Sightings revive hopes for woman

Press, 12 August 1978, Page 1

Sightings revive hopes for woman

Hopes were raised yesterday that a Christchurch woman missing for almost three weeks might still be alive.' The Timaru police are now investigating a report to “The Press” that Maria Veronica Porritt has been seen at a Timaru restaurant. Witnesses said they had recognised the missing woman from photographs and descriptions printed in “The Press.” “It is the first positive lead we have got,” a police spokesman said. The reported sightings are the first since two days after Mrs Porritt, aged 40, left her home in Teesdale Street, Burnside, on the night of July 25. “Very grave fears” had been held for her safety, according to a police spokesman. Mrs J. Hill, manageress of the Caroline Diner, on the Bay Hill in Timaru, told “The Press” yesterday that she believed Mrs Porritt had eaten a meal in the restaurant about 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Also, an independent witness yesterday telephoned the Papanui police

to say he had seen a woman answering Mrs Porritt’s description in the restaurant about 1 p.m. on Tuesday. Mrs Hill also said that she had recognised the woman from a picture and description in “The Press.” “She was wearing a white fur coat and a scarf, and she matched the

photograph exactly,” said Mrs Hill. Mrs Porritt was known to be wearing a white fur coat when she left home. The Timaru police were yesterday investigating the reported sightings. In the meantime, a team of Christchurch detectives has joined the hunt for the missing woman. The disappearance of Mrs Porritt was being treated “very seriously,” said the acting head of the Christchurch C. 1.8. (Detective Inspector P. S. Seaman). He said the possibility of foul play—earlier discounted by the police—was not being ruled out in the C. 1.8. investigation. Mrs Porritt, the solo mother of three teen-age children, had only SBO when she disappeared. The missing woman is 150 cm (4ft Ilin) tall, about 45kg (7st) of thin build, with a pale complexion, blue eyes, and dark blond hair. Anyone who has seen the missing woman is asked to get in touch with the Timaru or Christchurch police.