KEY POINTS:
A $50,000 police reward for information into the disappearance of Nicholas Pike has attracted the attention of three psychics.
Mr Pike, 22, of Palmerston North, disappeared from Tauranga five years ago. Police said there was no chance he was still alive.
Since the reward was announced last week, three psychics had called police to tell them where Mr Pike's body was, including one who said it had been dumped at sea.
Other people had called with information, none of it groundbreaking, Detective Sergeant David Clifford from the Palmerston North police said.
Mr Pike was a small-time drug user but not involved enough in the scene to be murdered, he said.
He was probably murdered but if he was not, there were people who knew what had happened to him .
He was last seen with an 18-year-old woman and two men.
Although they were not thought to be the killers, they knew something they were not telling police, Mr Clifford said.
"I am sure other people have been told what had happened. It is a matter of identifying those people and getting the information from them," he said.
Mr Pike was trying to break into the criminal drug world but did not have the skills or criminal background and was a "wannabe", he said.
He was Caucasian, about 1.8m tall of thin build, very short hair and a large tattoo of a dog on his back.
His was one of two $50,000 rewards offered by police last week.
The other was for Kaye Stewart, who disappeared in the Hutt Valley in 2005.
Both rewards included possible immunity for an accomplice to the crime, but not for the principal offender.
Lower Hutt police said they strongly suspected Mrs Stewart, 62, was dead.
She vanished after asking a Department of Conservation worker for directions in the Rimutaka Forest Park, near Wainuiomata, on June 13, 2005.
She was wearing a dark blue nylon jacket and dark track pants when she left on her walk.
She was Caucasian, of medium build and 1.69m tall with greying, light brown hair.
No trace of her was found in spite of intensive searches by police, family and friends.
Detective Sergeant Mike Sears said the reward notice had prompted several calls from the public, but nothing specific about where her body was.
Rimutaka was a "monstrous" national park but police knew the track where she walked and was last seen, he said.
A large area had been covered by police and army searchers.
Police expected to have found her and had not ruled out foul play.
People with information about Mrs Stewart should call 0800 691 102, and those with information Mr Pike should call the Palmerston North CIB on (06) 351 3852.
- NZPA
