KEY POINTS:
Missing Christchurch teenager Marie Davis' mother is "beside herself" with worry nine days after her daughter's mysterious disappearance.
Ms Davis hasn't been seen since being dropped off by a friend's mother at her suburban Papanui home about 6pm on Saturday April 5. She failed to meet her elder sister, Amy, and was reported missing about 8am the following day.
Police are appealing for any sightings of Ms Davis or her green canvas shoulder bag, which is missing from her home.
A team of almost 30 police and search and rescue volunteers searched along a bank of the Waimakariri River at Stewarts Gully, Kainga, yesterday and returned to the river this morning.
The search area was about 12km north of Ms Davis' home. Police said a number of disturbances had been reported in the Kainga area the night Ms Davis disappeared.
Investigation head Detective Senior Sergeant Virginia Le Bas said police were becoming more concerned daily about possible sinister connotations in Ms Davis' disappearance.
Ms Davis' mother, Janet, believes her daughter would not have run away from home and that another person must be involved in her disappearance.
Family spokesman Nick Donald told NZPA this afternoon Mrs Davis was now "beside herself" with worry.
He said people were still calling police with sightings of the teenager, which were all being followed up.
Police continued to search along the Waimakariri today and other places, he said.
"They've been going back to people and requestioning them just to delete people off their list," he said.
The family was still hoping Ms Davis was "still alive and out there somewhere".
"Hopefully, one of these sightings will come through," Mr Donald said.
"We're still hoping for a positive outcome. It's the only thing we can do. You don't want to think about the worst outcome."
Ms Davis is described as a part-Maori, about 168cm tall, with brown eyes and shoulder-length black hair.
She is thought to be wearing dark trousers and a pink short-sleeved T-shirt with a white T-shirt underneath.
- NZPA
