KEY POINTS:
I'm sure she would have come to someone's attention by now. Virginia Le Bas detective senior sergeant Leads in Christchurch disappearance drying up, but investigation continues Tisha Lowry disappeared two months ago and police and her family accept it is unlikely she will be found alive.
Ms Lowry went missing on the morning of September 25, after leaving the Bower Tavern in suburban Christchurch to walk to her grandfather's home nearby.
She was reported missing by her family three days later.
Ms Lowry, who was 28 when she disappeared, and her 48-year-old boyfriend moved to Christchurch a year ago from Porirua, and had been living together in the Aranui and Kaiapoi areas.
More recently, she had been living with her grandfather. Her personal belongings, including her cellphone and handbag, were found at the home.
Police conducted a scene examination of the house and also searched the Avon River during their investigation.
Inquiry head Detective Senior Sergeant Virginia Le Bas said yesterday that the investigation had been scaled back as information surrounding the case dried up.
"There is obviously a little less to do now than there was before," she said. "We haven't got the same number of staff working on it but it is an investigation in progress."
Such investigations got a lot of people talking and police needed to separate rumour from fact.
"We need to look at those things and verify it ... there are possible sightings and we need to check those.
"So there is still work, but there has been nothing that has really been able to establish anything further than that she has not been seen or heard from since the 25th."
Ms Lowry was not considered the type of person to lose touch with family for long periods and realistically there was little chance of her being found alive.
"I don't think the family are really hopeful in relation to that," Ms Le Bas said. "I'm sure she would have come to someone's attention by now and certainly wouldn't have stayed this far removed from the family."
She urged anyone who may have seen or heard something to contact police no matter how insignificant it seemed.
- NZPA