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NZ Police/Supplied
Police are searching for Michael MacGregor after he did not return from a walk in Mount Holdsworth, Wairarapa.
Family and friends of a missing Carterton man are sure he’s still in the Tararuas somewhere.
It’s been a week since Michael Namana went missing and Police Search and Rescue, as well as numerous other volunteers have failed to turn up any definite sign of him.
More than a hundred friends and family descended on their base camp at Holdsworth Lodge over the weekend to scour the local areas.
Namana was last seen wearing shorts and a hoodie at Rocky Lookout at midday on Monday, July 31 – about an hour’s walk from the Tararua Forest Park entrance at the Holdsworth carpark.
Piers Fuller/The Post
Missing man Michael Namana’s father Eddie Namana said the family was feeling ‘lost’ after searching for so long for his son.
His father, Eddie Namana, said they didn’t believe his son could have left the park knowing everyone would be searching for him. “We’re not even thinking that. It’s not in his character to walk out somewhere and carry on with his life.”
He said his son had been focusing on living a more healthy lifestyle in the weeks before he went in the Tararuas and, although he had not done much tramping, he was often going for morning walks before work.
“He wanted to change his life. He’d done Dry July to get off alcohol … and he was doing well.”
Namana said after a week of a huge effort by family and friends to try and find their son, everyone was starting to feel “lost”.
“There’s nothing. No sign, no nothing. That’s how they all feel – lost.”
Piers Fuller/The Post
Lossy Robinson, a long-time friend of missing man Michael Namana, was at Holdsworth on Monday morning with his dogs searching the area in the hills around the road end.
Police said the search was continuing around the high point above Sayer Hut but that there had been no further updates around Namana’s whereabouts.
The hut sits along the banks of the Waiohine River and is on the Lower Waiohine Track west of Carterton.
Pete Cunningham of Police Search and Rescue said they were “absolutely confident” that Namana had not left the forest park of his own accord. “We don’t believe he’s come back to his car.”
The weekend’s extensive search near Holdsworth Lodge and Donnellys’ Flat and the Atiwhakatu Stream, meant they could turn their focus to other areas such as the Waiohine Valley to the south.
“Today we’ve put a team into a specific area we want to search thoroughly. It’s a difficult task – it’s in the gorge.”
Cunningham said early on in the operation, searchers found a pair of socks below Sayer Hut, which may have belonged to Namana. “It’s a clue we’re looking at seriously.”
Police said they would like to hear from anyone who was walking near Mount Holdsworth or at the Rocky Lookout around midday last Monday.
A person wearing orange was in the background of a video Namana posted to social media, and police would like to speak with that person to see if they can help.
Piers Fuller/The Post
Family and friends of missing man Michael Namana have been involved in the search from the beginning.
Anyone who has seen Namana or has information can call police on 111, quoting event number P055522968.
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