A 34-year-old man has been charged over an extensive police operation in Marokopa in Waitomo District in September.
Police have not named the man who will appear in the Te Kuiti District Court on November 5 on a charge of causing wasteful deployment of police personnel and resources.
It comes following an extensive rescue effort, with police, landSAR and locals banding together to look for a family who went missing in the areas last month.
The four went missing on September 12. An extensive land and sea search was launched but called off after 12 days when no clue to their whereabouts was found.
Hope of finding them had since been fading fast but the family emerged from the bush on September 30.
What followed was a whirlwind of emotion for the locals of Marokopa and Kiritehere after the man and his young children arrived home.
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