"I want to come home dad, get me out please - help". Emails from 11-year-old Mike Zhou-Beckenridge to his stepfather John Beckenridge before the pair disappeared eight years ago, have been read out in court.
A coroner's hearing is underway to determine whether they are still alive. John Beckenridge picked his step son up from school in Invercargill in March 2015.
They were spotted in the Catlins, and John's car was found at the bottom of a cliff there. No bodies have ever been found, and Mike's mum strongly believes he's still alive.
Rachel Graham has been at the hearing.
