Police focus on watch, glasses in hunt for woman

Police are looking for two items missing Auckland woman Blesilda Gotingco had with her when she disappeared on Saturday night.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stan Brown said yesterday police were looking for reading glasses and a distinctive Omega watch with a mother of pearl face surrounded by diamonds.

Brown said a team of more than 30 police were working on finding Gotingco.

‘‘Our ideas are limitless but we hope she’s alive out there and someone knows where she is,’’ he said.

Brown said Gotingco’s family was ‘‘very, very distraught’’. Her husband was due back from the Philippines tomorrow.

Gotingco, 56, also known as Blessie, has not been seen since Saturday evening.

She had planned to catch a bus from Auckland city after finishing work at 7pm, at Tower Insurance in Fanshawe St in downtown Auckland, to her home on the North Shore.

She spoke to her adult son at 6.21pm. Her daughter arrived home from work about 3.15am the following day and noticed her mother was not there.

Gotingco’s mobile phone and shoes were found about 400 metres from the bus stop in Birkdale, along the route to her Salisbury Rd home.

Neighbours said they heard a high-pitched scream followed by a car driving off at the site where her belongings were found.

Police said they had several reports of screams, but they were all from different times in the evening.

Brown said there were no signs of violence at the site where Gotingco’s belongings were found and there was no significant suspicious activity in the area on Saturday night.

Police had interviewed Birkenhead Transport bus drivers and had two more to speak to. They were collecting CCTV footage from Auckland city as well businesses along the bus route.

They were also trying to trace Gotingco’s movements through a registered HOP prepaid card on a 973 or 974 Birkenhead Transport bus.

Investigators especially wanted to hear from anyone travelling on those buses.

There were reports of Gotingco being seen on a bus, but Brown said she was a regular user and police were trying to establish if she was seen on Saturday night.

Brown said police had received more than 20 calls to a phone number set up for the investigation, known as ‘‘Operation Lynsey’’, but still did not know what had happened to Gotingco.

‘‘Someone out there knows what happened and we want that person or an associate of that person to please call the police,’’ he said.

Gotingco, who was born in the Philippines, is of medium-to-slim build, about 1.62 metres tall and has dark shoulder-length hair. She was last seen wearing a white top and light-coloured trousers.

Anyone with information can call free-phone 0508 596 739, of Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.