Missing minus slippers

Fears are held for Roy George Marinkovich, 81, who is missing from Ranburn Resthome in Waipu.
Please call police (09) 430-4500 with sightings or information.
A pair of sodden slippers abandoned by a farm gate is the first clue in a desperate hunt for a missing Northland man.
Police and volunteers checked highways, drains, rivers and farmland yesterday in search of 81-year-old Roy George Marinkovich, who wandered from Waipu's Ranburn Resthome on Thursday. Mr Marinkovich was last seen about 6.15am on Thursday at the Nova Scotia Dr. resthome. When staff checked 15 minutes later he was gone. They reported him missing about 9am.
Police hold grave concerns for Mr Marinkovich, as he needs medication for diabetes and has severe dementia. He had moved from Ruawai to the resthome five days earlier.
Yesterday a farmer checking hay bales near the Waipu Boat and Fishing Club noticed a pair of slippers next to a gate about 11.30am and he reported the find to police.
"I heard he was missing and searched along the river looking for footprints in the mud. This morning I jumped over the gate and saw the slippers," said the farmer, who did not want to be named.
Mr Marinkovich's son identified the slippers as his father's.
The family hired a helicopter which buzzed the area on Thursday and yesterday.
Northland police Search and Rescue boss Cliff Metcalfe said worries about the missing man's medical conditions had been compounded by deteriorating weather. Mr Marinkovich was only lightly clad and had no food.
Searchers were out until 10pm on Thursday working by flashlight and more than 20 resumed again at 8am yesterday. An initial search within a 300m radius of the resthome was extended to a 10km search of five major roads leading out of Waipu, including State Highway One. But the discovery of the slippers meant police had a focus for their search. Police believe Mr Marinkovich left the paddock and headed north on Nova Scotia Rd toward Uretiti Rd.
Two searching kayakers paddled along the Waipu River on Thursday and other searchers spoke to Waipu business owners.
Police accept Mr Marinkovich may have been picked up by a passing motorist. "If someone has picked him up and dropped him off they need to come forward," Mr Metcalfe said.
Ranburn Resthome, Hospital and Village deputy manager Debra Peters said Mr Marinkovich was a short-term resident who had been expected to stay a minimum of 10 days.
"It's very much a worry, because of his dementia and health conditions," she said.
All residents with dementia were checked by a geriatrician, who had judged Mr Marinkovich suitable for safe management in an open resthome environment.
Ranburn has 73 residents in three levels of care, including 18 in a secure unit with locked and coded doors.
" Mr Marinkovich is 1.77m tall with bushy white mutton-chop sideburns. He was last seen wearing jeans, pyjama top, dark jacket and slippers.