Major update in search for missing Kiwi woman Kaya Awhitu after she disappeared in Bali

A 21-year-old New Zealand woman who disappeared for three days in Bali has been found by tourists on the island.

Kaya Awhitu travelled to the Indonesian holiday destination last Thursday, October 3, but her family issued a plea for help after being unable to reach her from Sunday. 

Ms Awhitu, from Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty, had last been seen at her accommodation at the Rumah Surga Villa in Ubud, in Bali’s south. 

On Wednesday evening, a family member shared news Ms Awhitu was found by tourists.

‘She was able to make contact with us. She is safe with someone we trust,’ they said.

The news comes after Indonesian police revealed Ms Awhitu had never stayed at the accommodation address supplied by her family.

‘The New Zealand woman Kaya Awhitu never stayed at the Rumah Surga Villa,’ Ubud Police Chief Gusti Nyoman Sudarsana told Daily Mail Australia. 

The police checked the villa on Wednesday morning and found Ms Awhitu wasn’t a guest there. 

‘As we get information that she was last seen in Rumah Surga Villa, we have already check into the villa,’ Mr Sudarsana said.

‘All guests that stay at Rumah Surga Villa are renting the villa monthly, and all guest have stayed there since last year. There was no guest that rented the villa daily.’

Relative Shar Roberts said Ms Awhitu’s family became worried after she failed to meet up with her partner to head to their next destination in Bali. 

‘They were supposed to meet up by a barge to go to the next place and she didn’t turn up,’ she said in a video posted to Facebook. 

‘He has gone back to the villa where they were staying and everything’s all packed up. We’re just really worried because she hasn’t made contact with anybody since Sunday, especially her sons. 

‘If anybody hears anything, she’s going to be grounded when we hear from her, but please let us know her family and friends are really worried.’

Ms Roberts returned to Facebook Wednesday night to share the ‘positive update’ Ms Awhitu had been found.

‘She has reached out to us… It was a tourist over in Bali who had seen the post and let her use their phone to ring us,’ she said.

‘She’d been hacked. She got an e-sim card and she was hacked, her whole phone.

‘She can’t log into her [bank], all her cards have been hacked and she’s got nothing on her.’

Shar Roberts (pictured) said they became worried after Kaya failed to meet up with her partner to head to their next destination on the Indonesian island

Ms Roberts thanked everyone who shared the post and helped find Ms Awhitu.

‘Hopefully we get her back tomorrow (Thursday),’ she said. 

More to come.