KEY POINTS:
Missing Northland eye surgeon Geoffrey Martin Wallace is almost certainly dead, say police.
Dr Wallace, 46, disappeared last Wednesday when he set off without a lifejacket in a small dinghy to cross the choppy Whangarei Harbour.
The dinghy was found the next morning without its outboard motor but there was no sign of Dr Wallace.
During the weekend searchers found one of Dr Wallace's shoes near where the dinghy was found at Home Point on the northern side of the harbour. His other shoe was found at Darch Pt, near the entrance to the harbour.
Far North police spokeswoman Sarah Kennett said police now assumed Dr Wallace was dead.
The search continued today with two small boats and a ground search party but police believe Dr Wallace had probably been swept some distance by the fast flowing tidal rip.
He left One Tree Point on the southern side of the harbour about 5pm on Wednesday to go to his home in Parua Bay. The 2.7m aluminium dinghy had a small outboard motor.
- NZPA
