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WELLINGTON - Searchers have so far failed to find a Christchurch man missing after attempting to swim across Lyttelton Harbour on Saturday afternoon.
Police said Graeme White, 46, walked and swam across mudflats to Quail Island to help with a tree planting project, but must have got himself into trouble when he tried to swim back to the mainland during high tide.
A small dinghy which Mr White used for flotation and to carry his personal possessions was found washed ashore but there was no sign of him.
Christchurch police spokeswoman Maggie Leask said an aerial search and a search of the harbour and mudflats by the Coastguard today had failed to find Mr White.
Inspector Warren Kemp of the police southern communications centre said this morning it was likely Mr White had drowned and there was a good chance his body would be found in the next few days.
The Press newspaper described Mr White as a "religious eccentric" and a familiar face in Christchurch courts after several high profile cases.
He was jailed for tunnelling into a Christchurch abortion clinic in 1999 and was fined for attacking a statue of double Victoria Cross winner Charles Upham in what he said was an anti-war protest.
He has convictions for indecent exposure, including for riding his bicycle wearing nothing but a helmet.
In 2002 Mr White became the second living person in New Zealand to donate a kidney to a stranger.
Police search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Peter Summerfield said the search for Mr White was suspended this afternoon and would not continue until more information came to hand.
- NZPA
