Queenstown Police are appealing for help from the public in their search for a Hungarian man who went missing on Friday November 13th after failing to return a hired Kayak used in the Queenstown Bay area of Lake Wakatipu.
41yr old Gellert Csaba MUDRA, who has been living in New Zealand for the past 2 1/2 years, was last seen paddling on the Bay at about 4:45pm on Friday afternoon, having hired a Kayak for an hour.
Mr MUDRA, who was wearing a beige coloured long sleeve woollen pullover, blue jeans, beige coloured trainers and a light blue polo shirt, is an experienced Kayaker and was wearing a light blue life vest when he left the beach.
At about 6:00pm the yellow and orange Minnow brand Kayak was found floating in the middle of the Bay with the paddle tucked inside the cockpit and the Life Jacket stowed behind the seat.
The strong winds present in the area at the time indicated that the craft may have drifted from the direction of the Lake Esplanade beach area.
The interior of the Kayak was dry as was the Life Jacket.
Police and Coastguard made shoreline searches of the Queenstown Bay and Frankton Arm areas of the Lake on Friday evening and again on Saturday without locating any sign of the missing man but have not excluded the possibility that Mr MUDRA may have walked off after beaching the Kayak in the Lake Esplanade area.
Sergeant Brian Cameron of the Queenstown Police says that Police have grave concerns for Mr MUDRA given the light clothing worn and the relatively chilly conditions of the past few nights.
Mr MUDRA has lived in Queenstown together with his wife for the past 18 months and has recently been depressed about his inability to find work.
Mr MUDRA is described as being about 185cm tall with a middle aged spread weighing approximately 95kgs and has short grey hair. He is clean shaven and wears wire rimmed glasses. Mr MUDRA speaks English well but with a strong European accent.
Police will reassess their search options again on Monday morning.
Police are asking that anyone who was boating in the Queenstown Bay area at the time the Kayak was found or anyone who may have seen Mr Mudra since to contact them on 03 4411600.
