No sign of missing fisherman
A long-range helicopter with three police officers on board has been searching the Karikari Peninsula coastline for 47-year-old Auckland man Bryce Frecklington, who was last seen on Thursday.
An inflatable boat, confirmed by Mr Frecklington’s family as the one he had been using, was found, upright in the water, by a boatie on Saturday morning, almost 12 nautical miles off the coast. The find was reported to police on Monday.
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre took over the search from police on Monday night, but the Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion that was searching on Tuesday morning was stood down, and a Salt Air helicopter from Paihia was called on to conduct a shoreline search based on drift modelling along the peninsula.
Mr Frecklington had been staying at the Department of Conservation campground at Maitai Bay. DoC Kaitaia operations manager David Neho said police were alerted after there had been no sign of him for several days.
A Karikari business owner said locals were talking about the man’s disappearance, but were not speculating about what might have happened. Sea conditions in the area had been fairly calm, he added.
Anyone with any information, or who may have seen Mr Freckington, is urged to contact Constable Thomas on (021) 191-5931, or the Whangarei police on (09) 430-4500.