Search for Rotorua woman ends

Search and rescue teams have reluctantly given up the search for a Rotorua woman who disappeared more than a month ago.

Rotorua police Search and Rescue Squad and the Wellington-based national dive squad finished searching on Saturday.

"Speaking personally, we haven't found her and that is an unacceptable result - as far as I'm concerned we have failed,", Detective Sergeant John Wilson said.

The squad and the divers had done everything they could and it wasn't easy to walk away, he told the Rotorua Post.

The team had been looking for the 32-year-old, who has been missing since August 12, in the area of Tikitapu (Blue Lake). Her car was spotted on the lake shore. Police don't believe there are any suspicious circumstances.

The woman, whose name has not been made public, was married to a Rotorua man and her family was from Hawke's Bay.

Mr Wilson said the woman's disappearance would now be referred to the Rotorua coroner.

- NZPA