20 personnel to join search for missing man today
INVERCARGILL
ABOUT 20 Land Search and Rescue members from throughout the region will gather in Invercargill today to assist in the hunt for missing man Raymond Horn.
Mr Horn (68) walked out of Walmsley House residential home in Invercargill on Monday about 8am and has not been seen since.
He is nonverbal, walks with a shuffle and is thought to be wearing a lightcoloured polostyle shirt, a black and red jacket, gym shoes and sweatpants or jeans.
CCTV footage released by police yesterday, shows Mr Horn on the corner of Yarrow and Mary Sts, just after he left Walmsley House, and then walking along Yarrow St towards Queens Dr.
Police were yesterday appealing for the two members of the public shown in the video, to come forward to help with its search.
Sergeant Ian Martin said yesterday there would be a ‘‘big push’’, with teams from Dunedin, Queenstown, Owaka, eastern Southland joining Invercargill LandSAR members starting from 8.30am today and working throughout the weekend.
However, he would still like people to continue to search dwellings and properties in the town, as well as industrial and commercial buildings.
‘‘Even if they have looked through them previously, we ask that they look again.’’
It was believed Mr Horn might have ventured further away from the central city.
‘‘There is a possibility he could have walked a lot further than we initially thought him capable of,’’ Sgt Martin said.
‘‘It’s not just the inner city. . . we think he could have walked quite some distance.’’
He asked people living in Otatara and the wider Invercargill area to search sheds and garages.
Yesterday, police were focused on gathering CCTV footage from throughout the city to discover whether Mr Horn could be seen.
As well as being an attempt to find him, the CCTV revealed areas in which he had not been, Sgt Martin said.
‘‘We have quite a bit and if we know he hasn’t been down those streets, that’s quite helpful, as well.’’
It was believed Mr Horn had no means of buying food.
Quite a few calls had been received from members of the public but police were encouraging anyone who thought they might have seen Mr Horn since Monday morning, to get in touch.
‘‘We’ve had nothing really positive at this time, but we’re happy to get any information we can.’’
Police 105 and quote event number P045508171.