A Coroner's hearing has been told a man who went missing in 2015 with his 11-year-old step-son was very controlling and possessive.
John Beckenridge and his son Mike Zhou-Beckenridge disappeared in March 2015 and John's car was later found crashed into the sea in a bay in the Catlins.
Their bodies were never found, and the Coroner is now holding a hearing to determine whether the pair are dead or missing.
RNZ reporter Rachel Graham has been at the hearing and speaks with Susie Ferguson.
