Police narrow search area for missing 69-year-old woman in Christchurch

Sunday, 21 June 2026

Police have narrowed down an area of interest in the ongoing search for missing 69-year-old Adele, who has been missing since Monday.

Detective Sergeant Luke Vaughan says Adele’s last confirmed sighting was in the Dallington area at around 6.40pm last Monday.

“We are now urging Burwood residents to please check their properties and notify Police of anything unusual, especially if you are in the New Brighton Road, Cresswell Avenue, and Gayhurst Rd areas,” Vaughan said.

“If you have any backyards, sheds, sleepouts, or anything where a person could seek shelter, please take a look.”

Adele lives in Shirley and has grey hair and a thin build. She was wearing a black beanie, grey puffer jacket, a red top and blue jeans, carrying an umbrella and a black PAK’nSAVE bag.

Police and her family are concerned for her welfare, particularly given the recent cold weather.

Police are appealing for anyone with CCTV footage from Monday to review their cameras, especially if they face the street in the New Brighton Road, Cresswell Avenue and Gayhurst Road areas.

Anyone who sees Adele is asked to contact Police immediately on 111, quoting reference number 260618/2259. Non-urgent information can be provided online at 105.police.govt.nz.

Adele is the latest person to go missing in Christchurch in recent weeks.

Police found 81-year-old Christchurch woman Valerie Hargrave cold but alive in grass near Tunnel Rd in Woolston earlier this month after she had been missing for five days.

She was about a kilometre from her home.

In June last year, Elisabeth Nicolls, a 79-year-old Christchurch woman with dementia, disappeared from the Margaret Stoddart Retirement Village.

She was found dead 19 days later in an abandoned home, less than 3km away from the retirement village, and less than 300m away from the home she lived in before moving to the village.