Keen hiker Colin Ross still missing after three weeks
Wednesday, 15 November 2017
A man last seen in Blenheim three weeks ago has still not been found.
Marlborough man Colin Ross, 53, went missing on October 25 after he was last seen near the fire station in central Blenheim.
Department of Conservation (DOC) volunteers searched the Heaphy Track, on the West Coast, last week after his car was found parked at the entrance to the track.
They did not find Ross.
Family and friends had planned a large-scale search of the Waihopai Valley walking tracks, close to where Ross lived, but that was called off after his car was found on the West Coast.
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No further searches were planned at this time.
A DOC spokeswoman directed all inquiries to police, saying they were the 'official spokespeople for the search'.
Police have been approached for comment.
Ross's 1996 Toyota RAV 4 was found on November 3 at the entrance to the Heaphy Track at the Karamea end, 112 kilometres north of Westport.
Ross's credit card was used in Murchison on October 25 and in Westport on October 26.
Three search teams and a dog team searched the Heaphy Track on November 4 and 5.
Search teams focused on the Kohaihai Bluff area and the Nikau Walk, right up to Crayfish Point, in the Heaphy Track, on November 4.
A friend, John Young, paid for a private helicopter search on November 1 in the Waihopai Valley where Ross lived.
The helicopter search focused on the walking tracks.
An earlier search was focused near Takaka, in Golden Bay and members of the public assisted police on that search.
Family friend Angelina Yve Grace said earlier this month Ross's disappearance was completely out of character.
'I've been really upset, he's quite an outdoors person … it's not like him to leave his phone behind unless he's going for a walk where there is no phone reception.'