RUNHOLDER MISSING

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20310, 21 May 1934, Page 8

RUNHOLDER MISSING

Letter Left in Flat for Police. SEARCH OF RIVER CONTINUES. Police from Christchurch and Kaiapoi are still searching for Mr Stuart Leslie Rutherford, runholder, of Leslie Hills, a member of one of the bestknown Canterbury families, who has been missing since Saturday morning. A car which he had been driving was found on the northern bank of the Waimakariri River, near the bridge on the Main North Road. It is feared that Mr Rutherford has been drowned, and weight is given to this theory by the fact that a note in his handwriting, addressed to Superintendent D. J. Cummings, of the Christchurch police and found in Mr Rutherford’s flat in the city, indicated that his body might be found in the Waimakariri.

Search parties were out’ on Saturday afternoon and yesterday, along the banks of the lower Waimakariri, but , the river, which is swift and deep near the northern side of the bridge, has been discoloured and slightly higher than usual in the last few days. The search was continued this morning and this afternoon. A report of Mr Rutherford’s disappearance was made to the police at Christchurch at 12.30 p.m. on Saturday. In his flat in the city was found the note addressed to Superintendent Cummings, in which he stated his belief that he had knocked down a cyclist, Mr J. Anstey, of Essex Street, Linwood, on Thursday evening at the corner of Shirley and Marshland Roads, and had driven on without stopping. He was greatly upset over the occurrence, and was glad to learn from a newspaper report that Mr Anstey was progressing well. Visit to City. Driving his mother’s motor-car, Mr Rutherford came to Christchurch from Waiau on Thursday, and played golf at Shirley that afternoon. On Friday morning he took his mother’s car into a garage and while there had a few minutes conversation with his brother. Mr D. L. Rutherford, who is in Christchurch at the present time. With a friend Mr Rutherford attended a picture show in the city on Friday night and on Saturday morning he borrowed his friend’s car saying that he was' going to drive back to W aiau.

At 12.30 p.m. on Saturday it was reported to the police that the motorcar in which Mr Rutherford had left the city had been abandoned near the service station close to the northern end of the new bridge over the Waimakariri River on the main north road. No one was able to say at what time Mr Rutherford left Christchurch on Saturday morning. When the car was found inquiries were made at his flat in Christchurch, but he was not there. The note, addressed to Superintendent Cummings, was found on a table. Search Instituted. Further inquiries were made and when it was found that Mr Rutherford had not returned to Waiau and that there was no trace of him, a search was instituted. The car found at the Waimakaraii Bridge was a Standard four-seater sedan, with a covering thrown over the radiator. The lights were not on. A passing motorist, who recognised the car, which had apparently been at the bridge for most of the night, made telephonic inquiries from the office of the Waimakariri River Trust’s con-i struction camp. As a result the owner of the car journeyed from Christchurch to recover it. Aeroplane Joins in Search. An aeroplane assisted in the search of the river yesterday morning. It was the Canterbury Aero Club’s Fox Moth, piloted by the club’s instructor Mr J. C. Mercer, wfio had as a passenger, Mr D. L. Rutherford, a brother of the missing man. The ’plane, flying very low, twice traversed the course of the river from the bridge to the mouth. Four policemen, two from Christchurch and two from Kaiapoi, carried out a search of the river on Saturday afternoon and yesterday. Cheerful and Well.

Mr D. L. Rutherford said last night that when he saw his brother at a city garage on Friday morning he was cheerful and well. They spent some minutes in conversation, but no mention was made by his brother of the accident referred to in the letter to the Superintendent of Police. He did not appear to be worrying about anything. His movements had been traced from the time he left Waiau on Thursday until about midnight on Friday, but from then on nothing definite could be learned. Apparently he left the city very early on Saturday morning. When the car was found at the Waimakariri Bridge and there was no sign of his brother anywhere, it was decided to make a search for him. The police worked along the river bank, but the river was high and discoloured. Nothing could be seen. Yesterday Mr Rutherford made a search bv aeroplane with Mr J. C. Mercer as pilot. He said that the bottom of the river could be seen in some places, but although they flew up and down two or three times and went out to sea for a few miles examining the current, the search did not bring any result.