Please attribute to Sergeant Tony Matheson
Police have located two clues in the search for missing tramper Darren Myers.
Police have been searching the Tararua Ranges since Mr Myers, 49, failed to complete the Northern Crossing on Saturday 1 June.
On Saturday a search team found a chocolate bar wrapper wedged in rocks in the headwaters of Arete Stream.
This is an isolated area and is 600 vertical metres below Arete Bivouac where Darren was last known to be.
We know he had this brand of chocolate bar with him. The wrapper is in very good condition and has an expiry date of 2020 so we are hopeful it belonged to him.
The severe wind conditions in the park could have played a part in how the wrapper arrived in the Arete Stream.
A second search team located a series of boot prints in mud on the route near the Arete Bivouac on Saturday.
The boot prints were infrequent and indicated a single person travelling on the Northern Crossing route prior to the recent snow fall.
Due to the age of the boot prints there is no pattern to assist with identification but we suspect they belong to Darren and date back to the day he left Arete Bivouac.
The search continued today with a focus on the areas highlighted by these two clues.
ENDS
Issued by Police Media Centre