LONG SEARCH EXPECTED

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30054, 12 February 1963, Page 14

LONG SEARCH EXPECTED

Police, Soldiers In Ranges (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, Feb. 11. Searchers looking for two escapers in the teimitory west of the Firth of Thames were prepared for an indefinite stay, said the search controller, Inspector P. J. McKenzie, tonight. The escapers are George Wilder, aged 24, and Patrick Wiwarena, aged 25, who broke out of the Auckland Prison a fortnight ago with two others who have since been returned to custody. The head of the Auckland police district (Assistant Commissioner O. S. W. Power) said tonight that there had been no concrete evidence of Wilder’s presence in the area. He said evidence did indicate that there were two people there, and one was Wiwarena.

“If there are two, then who but Wilder?” Mr Power asked. Army reinforcements today brought the number of police and servicemen now searching to nearly 100. Heavy rain, the first in four weeks, was falling tonight as road blocks and observation point crews were dispatched for the night’s vigil. Many of the searchers are tired and weary, having had little rest since the hunt startde. Between alerts they are sleeping in shifts at the Bay View Hotel. Katana, a nearby motor camp, and a large bach. A casualty today was the veteran police dog Duke, who gashed a back leg climbing through a barbed wire fence. He was rushed back to Auckland with his handler, Constable G. R Bracey, for treatment by a veterinary surgeon. His re placement, a six-year-old dog. Bruce, arrived later from Hamilton . with Constable A. Gyde.