A cairn has been erected using granite brought in from Sweden by the family of a tourist who disappeared while on a hunting trip in the West Coast nearly three years ago.
Hans Christian Tornmarck of Sweden went missing in the Regina Creek area, in South Westland, while hunting for tahr in May 2017.
Mr Tornmarck was reported overdue by a friend and a search and rescue operation commenced, Sergeant Mark Kirkwood the officer in charge of West Coast Search and Rescue said in a statement today.
During the search, the team was hampered by bad weather, including snow, limiting the area which could be covered.
Mr Tornmarck's camp site was located by the team, but he could not be found and the search was subsequently suspended, Mr Kirkwood said.
West Coast Police SAR and partner agencies had been working for almost a year to return to the area and resume the search when the weather and conditions were most favourable.
In early January 2020, a drone team from USAR flew the area and captured data which was analysed in the hopes of identifying a smaller area of interest for Mr Tornmarck's remains. SAR had already retrieved two bodies from the area over the last three years.
A search team made up of Police, LandSAR, Alpine Cliff Rescue, four search dog teams and the USAR drone team returned on the evening of Thursday, January 30, to look for Mr Tornmarck's remains.
On Saturday, February 1, heavy rain was forecast for the following three days, with up to 300mm rain expected. The search team was called back at around 11am, Mr Kirkwood said, following a 36-hour search. The drone team recorded thousands of images of the search area which will be analysed.
Mr Tornmarck's family was in the area during the search, he said. The cairn, or rock mound, was erected by the search and rescue team during this time using a piece of granite from his native Sweden. It was placed next to where his campsite had been found.
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