Police, Defence and LandSAR staff will continue the search today for two men lost in rugged bush in Tongariro National Park.
Search teams continue to find items which they believe belong to the two men.
'This has provided further confirmation we are focusing our search efforts on the correct area,” says Senior Sergeant Tony Jeurissen.
The two men, aged in their 20s, are believed to be the same individuals who fled police in a stolen car on Saturday, August 12.
Police attempted to stop the stolen car at about 3pm on Saturday, before the driver fled at speed north on the Desert Road.
The car was eventually abandoned on a track off Tree Trunk Gorge Road, off the Desert Road.
The driver and passenger ran off into the bush, and have not been seen since.
Police met with whanau of the two men last night to provide them with an update on the search.
Members of Tuwharetoa were also in attendance, and police would like to acknowledge the ongoing assistance and support being provided by the iwi.
2 comments
A self-inflicted wound...
Posted on 17-08-2017 17:15 | By morepork
... that costs all of us a lot of time and money. I don't want these guys dead; what they did doesn't warrant that, but it seems to me that the effort being expended is out of all proportion to the offence committed. What if everybody just withdrew and let them walk out by themselves? (If they can...) If they can't... well, who decided to run into the bush in the first place? I hope they get home soon...
@Morepork
Posted on 18-08-2017 09:05 | By Papamoaner
It's gone beyond the stage where the search is related to law enforcement. It's a SAR operation now. Police don't have discretionary power to do what you suggest. Sadly, if they're still in there having not snuck out somewhere, the chances of them being alive are slim. Pity, because the experience might otherwise have been sufficiently life-changing to turn them around.
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