Dad’s tearful plea for missing Grace
THE father of a young British backpacker missing in New Zealand has flown to the other side of the world to make a tearful plea for information surrounding her disappearance.
David Millane said his family was “extremely concerned” for the welfare of his “fun-loving” daughter, Grace Millane, who turned 22 on Sunday, following her disappearance nearly a week ago.
The tourist, from Essex, was on a year-long round-the-world trip and had been “bombarding” her loved ones with messages and pictures from her adventure.
But they became concerned when contact with Ms Millane went cold. She was last seen in Auckland at 9.41pm at the Citylife Hotel on December 1 with a “male companion”.
During an emotional press conference in Auckland, Mr Millane said: “Grace has been missing for seven days.
“We last had contact with her on > Saturday, 1 December, and as a family we have been extremely concerned for her welfare.
“Grace is a lovely, outgoing, funloving, family-orientated daughter. Grace has never been out of contact for this amount of time. She’s usually in daily contact with either her mother, myself, her two brothers or members of the family on social media.”
Detective Inspector Scott Beard, of Auckland City Police, said officers had identified and spoken to the “male companion” last seen with Ms Millane.
Mr Beard said officers had also identified an apartment at the citycentre hotel as a location of interest.
“It has now been six days since Grace was last seen,” he added. “At this point, we hold grave fears for her safety.”
He added that they “still have no evidence of foul play”.