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NZ Police/Supplied
Police are searching for Michael Namana after he didn’t return from a walk in Mount Holdsworth on Monday.
Searchers continue to hold out hope of finding a Wairarapa man alive after he went missing in the Tararua Range two days ago.
Michael Namana, also referred to as Michael MacGregor, was last seen at popular walking destination Rocky Lookout at midday on Monday, about an hour’s walk from Holdsworth Rd car park near Carterton.
Several search teams were scouring the thick bush on Wednesday, while family members took an active role in the search and supporting rescuers.
The weather was patchy, with flurries of sleet and snow at higher altitudes. More bad weather was expected, with MetService forecasting snow to 500 metres on Wednesday night and down to 400m early Thursday morning.
It is understood Namana was wearing shorts and a light shirt for what would usually be a day trip.
Pete Cunningham of Police Search and Rescue said they were searching a “big area” but they had committed a lot of resources to finding Namana, including helicopters and thermal imaging technology.
“And we’re still get information in from the public so that’s good,” he said.
It was cold, windy and wet in the ranges on Tuesday and Wednesday and Namana was not equipped for severe conditions, but Cunningham said there was still hope.
”We’re still hopeful that we will locate him alive, but as with any search the longer it goes on, the less the chances are.”
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was employed for two hours around midday on Wednesday and police planned to use thermal imaging drones to scan the bush in the area where Namana was last seen.
Piers Fuller/The Post
Missing walker Michael Namana was last seen at Rocky Lookout, about an hour’s walk from Holdsworth road end in the Tararuas.
Police Search and Rescue teams spent the night in Totara Flats Hut, and a police search and rescue squad on a training exercise overnight at Tutuwai hut had also joined the search.
Teams were focusing on the wider Rocky Lookout and Totara Flats areas on Wednesday.
Several family members were searching the area on Wednesday and bringing hot food to rescue volunteers, while others kept up to date with the latest information at search HQ at Hood Aerodrome in Masterton.
Nigel Boniface, a local tramper and member of the local search and rescue club, said Rocky Lookout was about an hour’s walk from Holdsworth Rd car park.
Piers Fuller/The Post
Searchers at Rocky Lookout on Wednesday.
Boniface said the tracks were good quality, but a person could get lost quite easily if they left the track and went into the surrounding dense bush.
“If you lose the track it would be very easy to get very lost and get stuck.”
A Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR) dog was being used, and would be joined by a police dog.
Several LandSAR volunteer teams were searching, and the operation was being supported by Amateur Radio Emergency Communications volunteers.
Police thanked people who had come forward with information. A person wearing orange seen in a video posted by Namana had been identified and spoken to by police, and provided information that helped the search planning.
Anyone who may have seen Namana or who had information was encouraged to call police on 111, quoting event number P055522968.
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