KEY POINTS:
The family of missing Masterton man Trevor Searancke hold grave fears for his safety after 10 days of anxious searching has failed to find him.
The 54-year-old huntington's disease sufferer disappeared on February 16 and despite a number of unconfirmed sightings in the Masterton area, searchers have failed to track him down.
His sister, Susan Searancke, has asked rural Masterton residents to search outbuildings and roadsides near their homes.
"He could have taken shelter anywhere in the rural area around Masterton or in the town itself. We would be very grateful if they helped us search for Trevor," she told the Wairarapa Times-Age.
"At this point we are gravely concerned for his safety."
Ms Searancke said a group of more than 25 police, volunteers, and friends joined family on Sunday and tracked for over seven hours along riversides and roads in the Gladstone area searching for clues to Mr Searancke's disappearance.
Senior Sergeant Warwick Burr, of Masterton police, told NZPA that the most recent unconfirmed sighting of Mr Searancke was at Saturday morning's farmers' market at Solway Showgrounds, where a person reported seeing him having breakfast.
Police were not certain that Mr Searancke was still alive, "but the feedback we've got from the public suggest that he's been seen around...so that's promising.
"However, we still would really like to find him so that we can resolve the issue because it is obviously a worry for his family."
Mr Burr said that information from the public was still vital and he asked that anyone who spotted Mr Searancke kept him in sight until police arrived.
A former Carterton district councillor and long-time member of the Wairarapa Pistol Club, Mr Searancke was a well-known identity in the community, Mr Burr said.
He was diagnosed with the rare and degenerative huntington's disease in 2002. Sufferers of the disease experience jerky, random, uncontrollable body movements called chorea and a lack of co-ordination, along with a raft of potential mental and behavioural impairments.
"It's been his grim determination not to lose himself after his diagnosis and to keep fit and active and engaged in the community that could have ironically worked against him and got him lost," Ms Searancke said.
"And because he walked so far and wide it's hard to pin down where to start looking."
Mr Searancke is about 1.54m tall and was last seen wearing a blue and white casual jacket, shorts and running shoes, and was carrying a blue and yellow backpack.
He has tattoos on both forearms, upper arms and chest, and sports a medium-length grey and brown beard; and has short brown hair and hazel eyes.
- NZPA
