Ariel Tagao with a monster snapper he caught off the rocks at Ruapuke last month - the spot where he remains missing from. Photo / Facebook
Ariel Tagao with a monster snapper he caught off the rocks at Ruapuke last month - the spot where he remains missing from. Photo / Facebook
The Philippines-based sister of a fisherman missing off the West Coast is still holding out hope and praying that they will find him.
Meanwhile, police, Coastguard, and local surf club members remain dedicated in their search to find the much-loved father-of two, with land, air and water searches to continue through to Sunday if necessary.
Ariel Tagao, who turns 44 on Monday, has not been seen since going fishing off the notorious rocks at the northern end of Ruapuke beach, south of Raglan, on Sunday afternoon before being reported missing later that night.
Police search and rescue crews along with Raglan Surf Life Saving Club members have been searching for Tagao since then.
Tagao's Philippines-based sister, Kelly-an, told the Herald that she is "deeply sad" that her brother remains missing.
The pair were incredibly close and the last time they spoke was on April 25, she said.
"I'm so close to him. Last April we talked [with] each other. He told me take of care our mother ... [he] will be sending money to our mother who is paralysed ... He miss us.
"Every time he talk to us he keeps on saying take care of yourself," she said.
Tagao is married and also a father of two daughters, aged 18 months and 9.
He was living in Hamilton and working to send money over to his family in the Philippines, she said.
Missing fisherman Ariel Tagao, of Hamilton, pictured with his oldest daughter. Photo / Supplied
Kelly-an said her brother, who moved to New Zealand in 2019, was the one who took care of herself and her three other siblings when their father died years ago.
Two of their brothers have also died, the youngest died on March 13, this year.
"He took the responsibility to be our second father. He is a loving brother. A loving husband and a loving father to his daughters. A loving brother-in-law."
Asked her thoughts on the chances of her brother being found, Kelly-an said: "I don't know.
"We are hoping and praying they will find him.
"Hopefully, in Jesus' name, they will find him as soon as possible."
Tagao was a keen fisherman and just a month before he went missing he caught a "monster snapper" off the very rocks which would later sweep him out to sea.
"He's there to be found so we will go as far as we logically can go," says Waikato police Sergeant Vince Ranger in their search for Ariel Tagao at Ruapuke this week. Photo / George Novak
Waikato police search and rescue Sergeant Vince Ranger said a friend raised the alarm after discovering Tagao's car still in the Papanui Point carpark. His belongings were found on the beach.
He said crews have been searching for Tagao since he was reported missing, which included the Eagle helicopter and LandSAR on Sunday night.
Coastguard and its air patrol joined LandSAR on Monday, while on Tuesday LandSAR did a search with the help of a drone.
On Wednesday, the Raglan surf club members did a sea-based search and today LandSAR crews have been back out again with the help of a Fire and Emergency drone.
"On the weekend we will continue with a shoreline search with Raglan surf lifesaving crews. Come Monday, we will reassess where we're going with our searching."
A front was also due to hit the area late Sunday and into Monday, and up until then they had been fortunate enough to experience relatively moderate conditions.
But until then, they were determined to find him, he said.
"He's there to be found so we will go as far as we logically can go and we will assess it from there."
Papanui Point is a popular but dangerous fishing spot on the West Coast.
At the end of last year a man in his 30s fell off the rocks while fishing with friends.
In 2018, Te Awamutu teenager Jack Macnicol was swept out to sea while fishing from the rocks.
A year earlier, 67-year-old Doyle Frickey, from Hamilton, also lost his life there.
Since 1970, about 20 lives have been lost after people have either fallen from or been swept off the rocks by rogue waves.
Police want to hear from anyone who has been in the Papanui Point area since Sunday and spotted anything that might help them find the man to get in contact on 105 quoting file number 210503/2078.
