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Police are mystified as to where a Bay of Plenty father of two young boys is after he disappeared without warning last week.
Siegfried Newman, 48, was last seen on Monday about 11am near his Katikati home 35km northwest of Tauranga.
Police said he had been in a "distressed state" since the death of his wife from cancer last November and friends said he had deteriorated in recent days.
He disappeared leaving his car, wallet and cellphone at their home, although his car keys are missing. The alarm was raised after he failed to pick up his children from school later that day.
An extensive search was conducted for three days in the area around his home before police called it off.
Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders of Tauranga police said today they had no idea in which direction Mr Newman went.
"We'd done as much as we possibly could with efficient use of resources.
"It's just a matter of if or when he appears."
Mr Saunders urged anyone who knew where he was, or if Mr Newman himself realised police were looking for him, to get in touch with police.
Mr Newman's two sons, aged seven and nine, were being looked after by friends and Child Youth and Family would be working with the family about their long-term care.
Senior Sergeant Rob Glencross said police were confident there was nothing sinister in Mr Newman's disappearance or that any third party was involved.
"There's nothing to suggest that this is anything other than him wandering off to have a think about things or wandering off to take his own life. Both of those are options," he told The Bay of Plenty Times.
Mr Newman "wasn't in a very good place, mentally" following his wife's death, and there were no signs at his home that he was about to disappear, said Mr Glencross.
He said another possibility was that Mr Newman was staying with someone who did not realise he was missing.
Steven Wadsworth, principal of Pahoia School, which Mr Newman's sons, Thomas and Oliver attend, said they had been "unbelievable" throughout the whole ordeal.
"There's been no tears, they've been very strong. "They seem to think he has gone for a walk and may have slipped over, or had an accident. They are coping very, very well."
- NZPA
