Episode
The Lost 05 | Francesca Martin
- Podcast
- Motive: Gone Fishing
- Published
- Jul 13, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2123
- Processing state
not_requested
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Summary
Fran Martin popped out to the petrol station in Hamilton in 2005, bought cigarettes, and wasn't seen again. Her father, Bob, has spent his life savings looking for her. This series was first released on 1 December 2017. Watch a video segment from the episode here Bob Martin has spent 13 years, his savings and much of his pension looking for his daughter. When she disappeared in 2005, the 79-year-old combed the reserves along State Highway 1 between Hamilton and Taupo. He put flyers up in Putaruru and Tokoroa. He dug on land because psychics told him that's where she'd be. But he's been unable to find her. Francesca Martin - known as Fran and aged 42 when she went missing - was last seen at a petrol station in Hamilton on April 20, 2005. Her white Nissan Pulsar turned up the next day two hours' drive away, near the intersection of State Highway 1 and 5 in Wairakei. "All I want to do is to get someone to come up and tell me, I do know where she is and get lucky and find that he's right or she's right," Bob says. "All I want is my daughter and to bury her - nothing more." Bob told RNZ's podcast The Lost he's driven to Wairakei to look for Fran more than one hundred times and spent his savings of $75,000 in his search. "I had big telephone bills. It was just a bit here and a bit there, but a bit here and a bit there over six years is a lot of money." Fran was last seen at a Caltex petrol station. CCTV footage shows she bought cigarettes, took out $30 and then left. About 20 seconds later, it appears she came back in to ask for directions. At the time, police said Fran was at the petrol station at 8.55pm, but Detective Sergeant, Matt Cranshaw, who is in charge of her case now, says she took out money at e…