Safety fears halt search for trampers
A fundraising campaign has been launched to help the search for two missing trampers which was suspended yesterday due to poor weather.
Police yesterday said “unfavourable conditions” meant both air and land-based searches for Nelson trampers Dion Reynolds and Jessica O’Connor were not safe.
However, planning was under way for a return to the field once conditions improved.
O’Connor and Reynolds entered Tasman’s Kahurangi National Park on May 9 and have yet to return.
They were due back around May 14. Police now have concerns for their safety and have been searching for the pair for the past week.
O’Connor’s brother has launched an online fundraising campaign that has raised more than $13,000 in the first 22 hours. Dominic O’Connor said the money would go to helping the search and rescue organisation LandSAR and its volunteers out searching for his sister and Reynolds.
He launched a Givealittle page in an effort to show his appreciation for what he said were the incredible efforts being made.
“This doesn’t come close to repaying the work being done by LandSAR — along with the police, defence force and fire service — but I hope it can at least convey the immense gratitude of Jessica’s family, Dion’s family and all their friends,” he wrote.
Jessica O’Connor, who worked at Abel Tasman Kayaks, knew the area well and described herself as “passionate about nature and working in the outdoors” on the company’s website.
A Facebook post from the company said O’Connor was a “very competent outdoors instructor who we love to bits. We are hoping that this is just a miscommunication of an off the grid adventure.”