KEY POINTS:
Police investigating the sudden disappearance of Christchurch woman Emma Agnew have begun searching a large park and wetlands area on the northern outskirts of the city.
Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald, heading the six-day-old missing persons inquiry, said police today were using a helicopter and ground parties to search the Spencer Park and Brooklands Lagoon areas, some 16km north of Christchurch.
The nature of the search could indicate police are now looking for a body.
Police hold "grave fears" for the profoundly deaf 20-year-old who texted her family last Thursday morning to say she planned to meet a man interested in buying her red Mazda Familia car.
That was the last anyone heard from a woman known for keeping close contact with family through the two cellphones she used for texting - her main means of communication.
Ms Agnew's car was found burning at Bromley Park in eastern Christchurch later that night and police have appealed to the public for sightings of the car in Christchurch's northern suburbs of St Albans, Papanui, Redwood, or Belfast between 10.30am last Thursday and 9.45pm, when her car it was found with the driver's seat ablaze.
Police today shifted their focus further north to Spencer Park a semi-rural 47-hectare park adjoining the Brooklands Lagoon - a popular beachside holiday camping spot.
Mr Fitzgerald said the inquiry team of 25 would focus on those areas today and tomorrow using a helicopter and search and rescue teams on the ground.
"It's just one part of the investigation and there will be other searches," he said.
Mr Fitzgerald the searches were prompted by "a number of things we've been working on over the past week" but he refused to be more specific.
None of Ms Agnew's missing belongings, including her two cellphones, had been recovered.
"As the inquiry goes on there could well be more searches," he said.
Mr Fitzgerald confirmed some houses had also been searched.
"Obviously we're looking for anything that could lead us to Emma."
Mr Fitzgerald stressed it was important for police to keep asking members of the public for any sightings of Ms Agnew or her car from when she last sent a text about 10.30am last Thursday.
Police had now narrowed the focus to specifically seek sightings north of Christchurch between 10.30am and 11.30am.
"If anyone from the public has seen Emma or her vehicle from Marshlands Rd, Spencer Park, the Lower Styx Rd or the Brooklands area, it's important that we speak to them," he said.
"We appeal to anyone who has been in that area at that time to think hard about what they'd seen in the 10.30am to 11.30am timeframe."
A forensic examination of Ms Agnew's partially burnt-out car was continuing and police were also examining her computer to try to identify anyone she may have been in contact with.
Despite the investigation extending almost a week and the inquiry team working "very long hours with very little sleep", Mr Fitzgerald said morale remained high.
"We've got an excellent team of investigators," he said. "We work for Emma and her family."
Asked if foul play was now a likely scenario, Mr Fitzgerald said: "Obviously with the timeframe and the circumstances of the car, it's been a consideration."
This morning more than 70 people attended a public prayer vigil for the missing woman at New Brighton Beach.
Last night her three brothers, Herbie, Bennie and Toby, who are also deaf, made a televised plea for her return.
They spoke of their love for Emma and the family's desperate need to find her.
"We all need her back, we all love her, we all love her so much," Toby told TV One's Close Up programme through a sign language interpreter.
Bennie described two bright pink pillows, with 'Roxy' on them, which were in his sister's red Mazda Familia car and asked anyone who had seen them to contact police.
The family was remaining very positive, he said.
"We have not yet found her and we are going to continue that (searching) until she is found," he said.
Police yesterday took Ms Agnew's computer for forensic investigation, fuelling speculation she may have been in electronic contact with people involved in her disappearance.
She was known to communicate extensively through text and email because of her deafness.
Police had obtained her mobile phone records and spoken to all the people who had sent her text messages about the sale of her car.
The inquiry team is also still looking for a man who warned a group in Bromley Park that Miss Agnew's car was "going to blow".
They have spoken to a number of people who were walking dogs on Thursday in the Bromley Park area.
Now they want a particular man who had warned others away from Ms Agnew's car to identify himself so they can ensure they can clarify what he may have seen.
Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald, who is leading the hunt, said although an officer may have spoken to the man, he did not believe a statement had been taken.
The man was described as Caucasian, about 35 to 40 years old, with light-brown hair, short on top but shaved at the sides. He was about 1.85m tall and of a solid build.
He was wearing a tidy dark jacket and jeans, and walking a white, short-haired, pitbull-cross dog.
A website set up yesterday to help Ms Agnew's family with the costs incurred during their search for her has already raised almost $2000.
Donations made through the website will go into the Deaf Association's "Find Emma Fund".
National services and HR manager Tony Blackett said the money raised would go towards keeping the phones going and the kitchens cooking.
Mr Blackett said it could also go towards travel expenses for the deaf community.
"They're deeply hurt and concerned by Emma's disappearance and they're working very hard to keep in touch and their hearts are breaking," he said.
Some of the benefactors have left messages of support for the family and friends of Ms Agnew.
"I met Emma at high school and I remember her as always laughing and smiling. I hope she is found safe and returned home soon," said one benefactor.
The website can be found here.
- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB, NZ HERALD STAFF
