Police will today begin the ugly task of trawling through tonnes of Christchurch rubbish as they desperately seek any sign of missing deaf woman Emma Agnew.
A search in semi-rural areas just north of Christchurch by aircraft and on foot, in heat in the high 20s, drew to
a close yesterday without any trace of the 20-year-old.
"It is disappointing. But there is a long way to go yet," said Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald.
"You are talking about a vast area of searching."
The police dive squad will search waterways north of Christchurch tomorrow, a further indication they are now looking for a body.
Ms Agnew was last heard from on Thursday morning last week, via text messaging, which she used to communicate. Her red Mazda Familia car was later found after being set alight in Christchurch's Bromley Park.
She had been in contact with people wanting to buy her car prior to her disappearance.
Police are today turning to the Kate Valley landfill in North Canterbury, where rubbish from Christchurch city is dumped, in the hope of finding any of Ms Agnew's belongings.
"We start in areas where we know certain areas of Christchurch [rubbish] have been dumped," Mr Fitzgerald said.
Police are still treating Ms Agnew's disappearance as a missing person case, having found nothing to indicate she was the victim of foul play.
"Anything is possible, but ... there is nothing to indicate in her behaviour that she has, for her own reasons, run away," Mr Fitzgerald said.
"I have an idea of putting a puzzle together ... and if there's certain things we need to keep to ourselves, we will. If that's what it takes to solve it."
Houses have been searched in Christchurch, and police have been knocking on doors in the search areas.
They are still focusing attention on "a number of people" who have been in contact with Ms Agnew.
Testing on Ms Agnew's car is continuing. Almost 70 police are now working on the case.
