The mother of an Auckland man missing for nine days fought back tears as she said he would never fail to contact her, and she described the experience since he disappeared as "a horrific rollercoaster ride".
Denver Chance, 43, left the flat where he rents a room in Mairangi Bay on the North Shore, around 3.30pm on Sunday February 24 in his red Nissan Skyline.
CCTV footage captured his vehicle travelling south on the Southern Motorway near Drury at 4.17pm and that was the last known sighting of his car.
Police say they are still treating it as a missing person’s case, but as time passes they're becoming more concerned that something may have happened to him.
Mr Chance's mother, Paula McGregor, today told 1 NEWS she last spoke to him at 2.30 on that Sunday afternoon. The conversation was about him coming to visit the family because they hadn't seen him since he'd come back form overseas about 11 or 12 days earlier.
"I know my son would not not make contact with his mother. I know that. I know he would never leave me worrying like this, never," Ms McGregor said, becoming emotional.
"It's been a horrific rollercoaster ride, terrible, absolutely terrible. Your adrenaline rushes when you think you're on a lead. And then a crash. I wouldn't wish it on anybody," she said.
Ms McGregor is completely mystified about why her son would go missing.
He was a healthy, fit guy, had everything to live for. No history whatsoever of depression, nothing like that, nothing. And I know that has been put out there, but it's definitely not the case. He was the most positive person I know."
And she said she knows of nothing in his past that might be a reason for someone to take his life.
"No, not that I know of nothing no, absolutely not."
Ms McGregor said the police sadly haven't got a lot of information to go on.
"But I don't know whether we're always told everything. They're doing an amazing job. They've got a good team on it working on it, a huge team. And they're keeping in contact with us."
“We really need to find this red skyline
Ms Chance's sister, Ginny O'Sullivan, said the family thinks he "could have had a car accident or something and gone off the side of the road and be hidden in some bushes somewhere.
"So we're really appealing to the public to try and go out there, go out and look around on the sides of their roads where they live or nearby and see over gullies and bushes and see if they can find a red skyline. That's what we're looking for. We really need to find this red skyline," she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Megan Goldie is urging anyone with a dash camera who was travelling on the Southern Motorway on the evening of Sunday 24th to contact Police.
Anyone who was travelling around the Karaka area at the time is also encouraged to contact police.
"We believe finding and tracing his car will be crucial to finding Denver," Ms Goldie said.
Anyone with information should phone 0800 FIND DC, or 0800 346 332.
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