Roy Arbon. Photo: The Scam screenshot
Police are scaling back the search for missing West Coast beekeeper Roy Arbon, after 10 days of intensive efforts in "notoriously difficult" West Coast terrain.
The 75-year-old left a handwritten note indicating he was going for a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell near Greymouth on 23 July.
His phone pinpointed his location just two hours after he was reported missing, but had not been used since.
Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood said every available resource that could be mustered was deployed into the area on Saturday.
Almost 80 people combed through the area that was riddled with mineshafts, cliffs, steep drop-offs, trenches and bush.
Disappointingly, Arbon could not be found, Kirkwood said.
"We know how gutting it is, not just for his family, but the wider community," he said.
On Tuesday, police would send a dog team and searchers to a further area of interest.
Drones, helicopters, Recco detecting equipment, search dogs and thermal imaging were all deployed with volunteers and specialist crews from police, Land Search and Rescue, Cave Search and Rescue, Mines Rescue, Alpine Cliff Rescue, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Coastguard and Surf Lifesaving New Zealand assisting, Kirkwood said
Members of the public had also provided information, leading to particular areas of interest, he said.
Police would continue to assess any new information received.
Arbon was himself a rescue and recovery expert, who assisted authorities after Air New Zealand Flight 901 crashed into Mt Erebus in 1979, and after a viewing platform collapsed at Cave Creek in Paparoa National Park in 1995.
He was later acquitted of cocaine smuggling charges in Western Australia after falling prey to an international drug scam.
Any information regarding Arbon or his whereabouts should be reported to the 105 service, referencing file number 250725/2139.
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