SEARCH CONTINUES

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 25 November 1938, Page 6

SEARCH CONTINUES

MISSING CLAVERLY WOMAN TWENTY rOLICE STILL ENGAGED WIDE EXTENT OF COUNTRY COMBED (United Press Association! BLENHEIM, 24th November. There is no indication at Claverly, a partially abandoned Public Works camp on the South Main Trunk Railway south of Kaikoura, of the search for Mrs Harriet Jane Patience, who is reported to have been missing since early October, being abandoned. Twenty police are still engaged in the search for the woman, who was last seen alive on 4th October, and it is obvious that the authorities believe that she is dead. According to observations at the scene of the police operations, it seems more than likely that if the missing woman is not soon found the strength of the police party at Claverly will be increased. From the methodical system adopted there is no doubt that if the body is within the area of the search it will be found, but of course there are a number of other possibilities to be considered in connection W ' the woman’s disappearance. For more than a month a police party from Christchurch has been combing a wide extent of country, turning over spoil and excavating fillings from huge rock cuttings built for the railway track. So far the only bodies uncovered are sheep carcases. A patrol of the sea coast from the mouth of the Conway River to Kaikoura, a distance of approximately 30 miles, is being carried out daily. The patrol is being worked in three sections and the advice of the Marine Department on the questions of tides and currents has been enlisted. The nature of the coast, however, presents unusual difficulties for patrol work, for a great deal is rocky and not easily accessible. Judging from the painstaking and persistent nature of the operations already carried out and what it is proposed to do, it is apparent that the police are optimistic that their endeavours will be rewarded.