Still missing after helicopter search
Police are scaling back the search for missing Marlborough man Colin Ross.
A helicopter search on Monday night along the West Coast failed to find the 53-year-old.
Ross was last seen in central Blenheim nearly two weeks ago, before his car was found at the entrance to the Heaphy Track, on the West Coast, on Friday.
A police spokeswoman said limited searching would continue in certain areas of the track and Department of Conservation volunteers would check caving spots.
‘‘The search is being scaled back but search crews will return to look in the same area again at the end of this week or early next week,’’ the spokeswoman said.
Police were still making inquiries, which would help determine the future direction of the search, she said.
On Friday afternoon, Ross’s 1996 Toyota RAV 4 was found at the entrance to the Heaphy Track at the Karamea end, 112 kilometres north of Westport.
Three search teams and a dog team searched the Heaphy Track over the weekend.
Search teams focused on the Kohaihai Bluff area and the Nikau Walk, right up to Crayfish Point, in the Heaphy Track on Saturday. Ross’s credit card was used in Murchison on October 25 and in Westport on October 26. A friend, John Young, paid for a private helicopter search last week in the Waihopai Valley where Ross lived.
The helicopter search also focused on the walking tracks. Family and friends had planned a large-scale search of up to 30 people in the Waihopai Valley but the search did not go ahead after the discovery of the car at Heaphy Track.
An earlier search was focused near Takaka, in Golden Bay and members of the public assisted police on that search.
Family friend Angelina Yve Grace said Ross’s disappearance was completely out of character.
‘‘I’ve been really upset, he’s quite an outdoors person ... it’s not like him to leave his phone behind unless he’s going for a walk where there is no phone reception.’’
Ross was the ‘‘life of the party’’ and was always helping others in the community, Yve Grace said.
‘‘He used to teach with me at the Wairau Community Clinic and you would never catch him having a bad day.’’
Yve Grace thanked the community for its support.
‘‘The community has been awesome, we have received so many messages from them.’’