Object in sea not recovered

Police in Central Hawke's Bay were unable to locate a mystery object sighted in the sea.

Police were yesterday unable to recover a mystery object from the sea, near the beach where a man disappeared in Central Hawke's Bay 10 days ago.

Eastern District Command Centre Senior Sergeant Ross Smith said police search-and-rescue teams were called to Blackhead Beach, southeast of Waipukurau, yesterday afternoon, after an object was sighted in the sea by a member of the public.

But after several hours of searching, no object was recovered and the operation came to an end.

Mr Smith could not confirm what the object had been.

Blackhead Beach is near Shoal Bay, Aramoana, where a man went missing 10 days ago.

Dau Atem, 22, originally from Sudan, walked out on friends after a night-time disagreement on Saturday, November 1.

The group of friends had been staying at a bach for the weekend.

The alarm was raised with police the following day, and searches began, including inquiries in Palmerston North based on the possibility he may have tried to hitch-hike home.

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter also covered about 10km of coastline about 500m out to sea from Mangakuri to Blackhead Beach, and the road in and out of the Shoal Bay settlement, but all search efforts for Mr Atem have proved fruitless.

Mr Atem had been studying sport and exercise at Massey University and previously had gone to high school in Wellington.