Search for Lucas to be downgraded

Search and Rescue volunteers comb a creek off the Turanganui. Photo / NZPA

As police wind down their search for missing Gisborne boy Lucas Ward, his grandfather says the family hasn't given up hope six days after the four-year-old disappeared, and will keep on searching.

"We'll always be hopeful," Mark Hunt told NZPA.

"There will always hope for him and his spirit will always be there. We really haven't lost him yet. We're a long, long away from that point yet.

"There's still a lot of people out there looking for him, there's a lot of hope," Mr Hunt said.

Announcing plans to downgrade the search on Sunday just after the dive squad and search and rescue teams were stood down, Gisborne area commander Inspector Sam Aberahama said Lucas might never be found.

"We may never know where Lucas is - that is the reality of the situation."

He said it was not news that any family of a missing person wanted to hear, "but in reality, there has to come a time when we have to bring the search to a close".

Mr Hunt said the past few days had been "pretty tough" since Lucas went missing as his grandmother unloaded groceries and answered a phone call in her Waiti home.

Police, family members and volunteers have been scouring the nearby Waimata River and land areas for six days, but have found no sign of the boy.

"We're going to just be very hopeful that we can come up with some sort of miracle and we just need time to get some closure on it. We're going to back off for a few days and just have a wee rethink," Mr Hunt said.

He said the family was not upset the search was being downgraded, saying police had been "fantastic".

"We've got to be realistic. They have searched everywhere they could search, and like I say we're just going to back off a litle bit as a family.

"The local dive club here are going to be diving and looking around, and there could be no official land search going on, but there will be for us."

Police divers searched the Gisborne harbour entrance and then returned to the Waimata River near Lucas' grandmother's house today.

There were also foot searches along the riverbank as far as the harbour entrance, and Coastguard and surf lifesaving personnel searched the inner harbour and city beaches on paddle boards and rescue boats.

Mr Aberahama said police were still keeping an open mind as to where Lucas might be.

"He could be in the river, or he could have met with some sort of accident somewhere. We have continually kept an open mind as to what might have happened to him. As mentioned before, we have also not discounted the possibility of foul play, but there is nothing to indicate anything of a sinister nature has happened to him.

Lucas' bike was found on a path leading to a river jetty and a chip packet recovered from the river, believed to be similar to one given to him by his grandmother shortly before he disappeared on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Hunt said he was keeping all options open, but thought the river was a likely possibility.

"You've got to be realistic about it all. If you lived by a highway and your child ran away up the road, where would you expect him to be, you know?

"There's lot of possibilities where he could be... police haven't quite finished their investigation yet so I'm going to keep an open mind on everything because otherwise you start closing points off and you start running out of options and it just makes it too hard."

Family and friends would keep searching tomorrow, as well as local kayakers who frequent the river.

"They'll all keep their eye out and there'll be an unofficial search for a long, long time I would think."

"We're lucky we've got such a strong community behind us."

He dismissed suggestions a psychic was being involved in the search.

"Police said they get lot of people calling up with all sorts of different things... I'm a Roman Catholic, so I'm not really into that sort of stuff.

Police were still seeking two kayakers reportedly seen on the river on Tuesday afternoon.

- NZPA