DAVID UNWIN/Stuff
Police officers and volunteers continue to search for Toru Mizokawa in the Manawatū River.
Searches for a fisherman who has been missing for almost a week are continuing in the Manawatū River.
Toru Mizokawa was believed to be fly-fishing along the Aokautere side of the Manawatū River, off Pinfold Rd, in Palmerston North on Saturday.
The 49-year-old man was reported missing on Monday by work colleagues when he didn’t show up to his job in Fonterra’s research division.
Manawatū Search and Rescue officer in charge Andrew Brooke said it looked like Mizokawa had fallen in the water while fishing.
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Supplied
Toru Mizokawa, 49, has been missing since Saturday.
Dozens of people had been searching the river for Mizokawa since Monday afternoon.
After Stuff reported Mizokawa’s disappearance on Tuesday, about six witnesses had come forward with sightings of the avid fisherman on Saturday and on previous occasions.
A dive squad from Wellington was at the Manawatū River on Friday, assessing whether it was safe to search.
“The murkiness doesn’t matter because they are used to searching blind, they use their hands, Brookes said. “The river flow is what matters.”
On Thursday four surf-lifesaving inflatable rescue boats searched the river down to Ōpiki, alongside kayakers and teams searching the ground along the river banks.
Fonterra director of category, strategy and innovation Mark Piper said he had known Mizokawa, a highly-valued member of the Fonterra Research and Development team in Palmerston North, for more than 16 years.
“We’re all deeply concerned about Mizokawa san and are assisting police with their search.”
Police urged anyone who may have seen Mizokawa on Saturday to contact police on 105 quoting the file number 210809/7210.
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