The mysterious vanishing of French tourist Pierre Paludet

Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Missing French tourist Pierre Paludet has not been seen since Friday.

Authorities are baffled by the disappearance of French tourist Pierre Paludet, who went missing on Friday and hasn't been seen since.

On Wednesday, a former colleague of 32-year-old Paludet told Stuff he had been backpacking around the country on a working visa.

Haumoana Beach residents went to police after a car being used by Paludet sat in a car park for days.

The woman said he spent about five weeks between March and April as a kiwifruit picker last year with Ōpōtiki Packing and Coolstorage in Te Kaha, in the eastern Bay of Plenty.

'He walked a lot. He used to leave his car at the camp a lot … and walk to the orchards.

Police are searching for French national Pierre Paludet.

Haumoana Beach, looking towards Cape Kidnappers.

* Air and sea searches find no sign of missing French tourist**

'I used to pick him up quite a bit walking along the road, and give him a ride to work or wherever he was going.'

Taupō mum Amy Brown drowned at the river mouth at Haumoana Beach last week while trying to save her children.

She said he stayed at orchard manager Hoani Kerei's section in a tent while working with the company. 'He was quite an adventurous guy.'

Paludet was last seen by a member of the public about 6.30pm on Friday at Haumoana, about 12 kilometres east of Hastings.

On Wednesday, a Hawke's Bay police spokesman confirmed Paludet was still missing, and said Hawke's Bay detectives were now focusing their inquiry on tracking Paludet's movements through information provided by the public.

'We had the extra search yesterday obviously to check nothing was missed in the first one. There's no physical search happening today.'

A French embassy spokesman said it and its honorary consul in Hawke's Bay would 'continue to work with New Zealand authorities'.

A search of the Haumoana reserve and estuary area was conducted by police, LandSAR and surf life saving teams on Tuesday, but nothing was found.

Kerei said Paludet was a quiet person.

'Everyone sort of thought he was a little bit strange sometimes, but once you got to know him he was all right.'

Paludet was 'always getting the growling' for leaving stalks on the kiwifruit.

'He was a bit of a character. Every time he was back at work, the other workers would say: 'Oh watch out, here he comes'.

'He blended in well with the locals. But he still seemed a bit quiet.'

Kerei said Paludet walked everywhere.

'He's a different type of character … He wouldn't stay at the camp and talk to all the workers over there, he would go walking. You'd find him up the road somewhere else.'

It is understood Paludet lived in Vallet, a town of about 7900 people in the Loire-Atlantique region of western France, where he worked as a composite materials engineer.

Police first became aware of Paludet's disappearance after locals contacted police about the car he had been travelling in, which was left in a car park for a number of days at Haumoana Beach.

* Anybody with information should contact Hawke's Bay Police on 06 831 0700 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.