Police say the state of a body found during the hunt for missing Wanganui woman Marice McGregor is hampering identification.

A major search is under way in London for a NZ man who has been missing for six days after failing to return home from an evening at a nightclub.

Two children are among the people missing after the land beneath their house gave way, causing it to partially collapse.

The discovery of a lanyard belonging to missing Whanganui woman Marice McGregor indicates she had got into a vehicle, police say.

The Army has been called in to help with the search for missing Christchurch woman Emma Campbell, although her family now fear the worst.

Police are seeking at least three witnesses in the search for Christchurch woman Emma Campbell.

A body found near the Urewera National Park by hunters last month has been identified as that of a 1982 murder victim.

Detectives have refused to rule out abduction or homicide in the case of Whanganui woman Marice McGregor, who disappeared on April 19.

Police have widened their search for Whanganui woman Marice McGregor to the Manawatu after evidence her cellphone was switched on in the region a day after she vanished.

The family of a woman missing for 12 days say they are going through a "slow living nightmare" as police admit something untoward may have happened to her.

Police investigating the disappearance of a Whanganui woman 12 days ago are seriously concerned "something untoward" has happened to her and are appealing for sightings of a green van.