KEY POINTS:
The brother of missing Israeli tramper Liat Okin is still hopeful of finding her alive despite footprints found last week on Fiordland's Routeburn Track being ruled out as hers.
Ms Okin, 35, was last seen at the Routeburn's Mackenzie Hut on on March 26.
A police search failed to find any trace of her and a private search co-ordinated by her brother, Itamar Tas, was launched on April 24.
The ground team found footprints on Tuesday in a remote area, about a kilometre from the Routeburn Track but they have now been ruled out as belonging to Ms Okin.
Mr Tas said that the search team had combed the surrounding inhospitable terrain, but there was no sign of Ms Okin.
"We pretty much covered all the area we wanted to check," Mr Tas told the Southland Times.
"(And) if we found her over there in the place near where the foot prints were...we would not have found her over there alive."
While not finding any signs of Ms Okin was disappointing, it gave Mr Tas hope his sister could still be alive.
Considering how much ground searchers had covered since she had gone missing, to find nothing suggested she might not even be in the area.
Despite police saying it was unlikely anything sinister had happened to Ms Okin, Mr Tas believed it was still something to consider.
"People just can't disappear." Searchers would consider what their next step was after a debrief today.
- NZPA
