Jersey found in search
A jersey has been found in the search for two missing trampers in Kahurangi National Park.
Jess O’Connor and Dion Reynolds have not been seen for 17 days, after entering the Anatori Valley to go tramping on May 9.
Roots Bar owner Holly Osmond said yesterday that Police sent a photo to staff at the Takaka venue, of a jersey which had been found. They asked whether the item of clothing belonged to Reynolds.
Reynolds worked as a chef at the Roots Bar over the summer period.
Osmond said she and the other staff members did not recognise the jersey. However, she said she only saw Reynolds wearing t-shirts over the summer, so could not be sure it wasn’t his.
She was not aware where the items of clothing had been found.
Police working on the search referred questions about the jersey to police communications.
Meanwhile, safety concerns for rescue teams has delayed the restart of the search for pair.
Police announced they would not be resuming the search on Tuesday, due to the ‘‘extremely hazardous terrain’’ in the search area.
Tasman Police Search and Rescue officer Sergeant Malcolm York said yesterday they were assessing the decision.
‘‘There’s safety issues with the rivers dropping, and the bush drying out because of the steepness of the terrain – we’ve got to make sure it’s safe for the guys going back in.’’
The search was postponed on Monday after heavy rain fell in the Anatori Valley on Sunday night.
Search and Rescue teams have been looking for the pair for more than a week.
The 23-year-olds had been living and working in the Tasman District before their disappearance, O’Connor as a kayak guide and Reynolds as a chef.
York said there was expected to be ‘‘a big push’’ in the search coming in today.
Yesterday, police stated that when the search resumed, it would involve specialist trackers, search dogs, and the use of RECCO search radar, once conditions were dry enough.
An experienced tramper has said the complex and inhospitable terrain in the Anatori Valley could be a stumbling block for those not used to it.
Backcountry tramper Paul Kilgour of Rangihaeta in Golden Bay had a teleconference with LandSAR’s team leaders last week, to discuss the terrain north of Anatori.
It is one of several possible areas where the pair may have gone.
Kilgour, who has extensive experience tramping through the terrain, said Search and Rescue wanted to get an idea of the ‘‘complex’’ country.
He said Search and Rescue had received information that the couple had told friends, or other campers, they were planning to go up the Anatori and come out north at Sandhill Creek.
However, search teams were faced with lack of a clear plan or intention and few clues as to their location.
Kilgour said his focus during the teleconference was on terrain north of Anatori, including its headwaters, Sandhill Creek right up to Mt Stevens, south to Turimawiwi, and all the backcountry around the Anaweka.
He also talked about the possibility of the pair making their way along the historic survey route to the Ministry of Works Hut, also known as Mackay Downs Hut.
He acknowledged it was a ‘‘considerable distance’’ from the search area.
In the country between the headwaters of the Anatori, where the missing trampers supposedly went, and the Ministry of Works Hut, there were quite a few river systems, headwaters and streams.
He described the area as having big bands of bush, scratchy alpine vegetation, and complex gullies with thick vegetation.
‘‘You could slowly work your way [to the Ministry of Works Hut], but it would be a major job,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s only a few places you could go to really get there, and it’s really thick [bush]. I’ve only finally figured out [how to get there] after 20 trips.’’
He said he hoped the pair did make it to the hut because he had left a food supply there.
Kilgour said the search teams told him during the teleconference that O’Connor may have had problems with deciphering maps in the past and getting disorientated as a result.
He had also heard the pair had told friends or campers they had a certain amount of days’ food, and then they were going to ‘‘live on fish’’.
‘‘That concerns me, because going inland like that you are getting away from the fish habitat,’’ he said.
‘‘You don’t have to go very far inland before you are in mountain creeks … on the plus side, there are clearings, that can be seen off the Wakamarama Range, there’s native crayfish and fish that live in those rivers.
‘‘I’ve heard of people surviving like that … whether they had that knowledge or not, I don’t know.’’