Man’s whereabouts puzzles

Press, 21 February 1986, Page 25

Man’s whereabouts puzzles

Special correspondent Queenstown The Queenstown police are mystified about the whereabouts of an English tourist, Martin Peter Illingworth, aged 25. Possible sightings in the lower South Island have led them nowhere.

Mr Illingworth, of Louborough, failed to meet his fiancee in Australia on January 8 : and his passport and airline tickets are still held in

safekeeping in an Auckland bank.

Mr Illingworth left Queenstown last month and was believed to be heading for Te Anau. He was last seen at the Upper Caples Hut at the head of Lake Wakatipu on January 25. He was believed to have travelled into the Routeburn area by bus, but • did not retrieve a small bag left with the bus company in Queenstown.

The police have been “at a bit of a dead end” in their inquiries, after a possible sighting in the Mount Cook area failed to turn up any sign of Mr Illingworth. Searches in the Routeburn and Caples Valley areas have also been to no avail, the police say. The police are now trying to find an American woman who was believed to have given Mr Illingworth a lift from Te

Anau about 10 days ago. This person had then intended to hitch-hike to Auckland. Mr Illingworth is of medium build, has blond hair and is going bald, and blue eyes. Queenstown police have been liaising with Auckland police who had a telephone call from the missing man’s parents in England at the week-end. They had not been able to assist the police with their inquiries. :