Expert evidence about how the three-year-old Lachlan Jones' body was discovered and questions about how he got into the town's oxidation ponds were a key feature in the second phase of a coroner's inquest.
The hearing into the death of Gore toddler, Lachlan Jones, began today in the Invercargill District Court.
Coroner Alexander Ho is listening to evidence from a number of independent experts this week about the case five years on.
A police investigation concluded that Lachie drowned on the night of January, 29, 2019.
But Lachie's father, Paul Jones, has long disputed the official theory that his son walked more than a kilometre to the wastewater ponds.
National Coordinator for Police Dogs, Inspector Todd Southall, was the first person to be heard today in the inquest.
Police used a dog on the night the three-year-old went missing from his mother's home.
Counsel assisting the Coroner, Simon Mount KC, told the inquest, "The coroner will have to grapple with two main possibilities — one is that young Lachie went over the fence and along the pathway alongside the pond... and his scent was simply not detectable by the [police] dog."
"The other possibility is that the young boy did not follow that path and arrived at that point in the water in some other way." he said.
That statement was directed to Inspector Southall, who said it was impossible for police to establish that fact.
"There was no track [or scent] located, Lachie's or anybody's," Southall said.
"Nothing was found.. so whether that's because of the environment... it had dispersed, or it was never there."
Simon Mount KC continued and asked, "How long might a scent be detectable by a [police] dog?"
Inspector Southall replied, "That's the $100 question, I can't really sit here and say it's one hour, one hour, two minutes, there's a lot of factors."
Those factors include the size of three-year-old Lachie, the area he was found and what areas the dog went.
Lawyer Max Simpkins represented Lachie's father and challenged the idea that the child walked more than one kilometre alone.
"Another scenario.. the dog couldn't pick up the scent, possibly because Lachlan did not walk there?"
Southall said, "potentially."
Later in the day, forensic pathologist of 40 years, Dr Martin Sage, told the hearing that it is not possible to say categorically that Lachie drowned because of the way his autopsy was carried out.
"[The pathologist's] failure to examine the interior of the head and brain means that there is no exclusion of the reasonable possibility that this child has accidental or inflicted injuries," Sage said.
He suggested the examination needed more specialist input.
"I would strongly advise that this kiddie was transported to Christchurch, and I did his post-mortem and CT scan."
A second forensic pathologist and a US-based forensic detective will be heard tomorrow.
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