Wife of missing Wellington tramper staying positive

Tuesday, 4 June 2019

The search continues for the missing tramper in the Tararua Range.

The wife of a tramper who has been missing in the Tararua Range for several days is not giving up hope.

Darren Myers, 49, has been in the Lower North Island mountain range since Tuesday, May 28, and his last communication was a text to his wife, Kim Shaw, last Thursday morning.

Deteriorating weather forced searchers to scale back the search on Tuesday which had enlisted the Air Force, police Search and Rescue and scores of Land SAR volunteers.

'I have been impressed and made to feel at ease by SAR (search and rescue) personnel,' Shaw said.

**READ MORE:

Searchers kit themselves up to look for Darren Myers.

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Wairarapa Land SAR members on the top of the Tararua Range as part of the search for a missing Wellington tramper

* Trampers warned about the dangers of underestimating the Tararua Range**

An Air Force NH90 helicopter was used to transport rescue crews into Tararua Forest Park to search for the missing tramper.

She and her sister Debbie Styles had been at the search headquarters at Masterton's Hood Aerodrome and were shown all the areas that had been searched.

'We are staying positive and not giving up hope. We cannot thank the volunteers enough for their hard work and determination to bring Darren home.'

Police search and rescue team member senior constable Brett Main after coming in from the search in the Tararua Range.

More than 50 volunteers were scouring tracks, ridges, creeks and animal lines but several teams were airlifted out of the range by an Air Force helicopter on Tuesday afternoon.

Myers was due out from Mt Holdsworth on Saturday and a search was mounted on Sunday amid serious concerns for his safety.

A police tracking dog and its handler coming back from a search in the Tararua Range for tramper Darren Myers.

Police search and rescue incident controller Sergeant Anthony Harmer said, for safety reasons, they had scaled back the search on Tuesday and had pulled most of the teams out by nightfall.

One search team remained because the Air Force NH90 helicopter was unable to reach them due to the conditions

'A front is coming through and we would need to take it as it comes. Today we haven't been able to get the results we want and that was all due to weather,' Harmer said.

Myers' text message to his wife on Thursday morning was from near Arete Bivvy in the centre of the northern Tararuas.

Severe weather blasted the region from Thursday through to Sunday and more than half-a-metre of snow was dumped on the mountain making transit across the tops particularly perilous.

A break in the weather on Monday allowed 10 search teams to be airlifted into several sites.

The searchers were looking at using thermal imaging technology later in the week but that was also weather dependent.

The bulk of the search on Tuesday was focused between Arete Bivvy and Tarn Ridge Hut on Mt Holdsworth.

Visibility in the mountains was down to 50 metres and winds were gusting up to 80kmh and searchers found it heavy going.

Bad weather was forecast from Wednesday with a low pressure system expected to cross the island over the coming days.