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A Hastings man, whose mysterious disappearance at the weekend created a search spanning much of the North Island, has been found alive and well in Wellington.
Cameron Dormer, 25, left his Hastings home on Saturday afternoon to get takeaways and never returned.
He sent a text message to
his partner at 3.30pm that day saying he was being followed by another car and would take down its registration number.
His burnt-out car was found hours later more than 300km away at Katikati, in the Bay of Plenty.
He was seen on a bus travelling from New Plymouth to Wellington on Sunday and police this evening confirmed he had been found in a Wellington motel.
Police said Mr Dormer was found about 6pm at a motel in the central city.
When police arrived at the motel, he jumped out a window and ran into the grounds of a nearby school.
He is currently being spoken to by police at Wellington Central police station.
Police have been speaking with a man in New Plymouth about Mr Dormer's disappearance. He provided police with information about Mr Dormer's whereabouts in Wellington.
Police were still considering charges against that man.
Detective Sergeant Mike Foster said the weekend's events surrounding Mr Dormer were still a mystery.
"We will be talking at length with Mr Dormer to try to ascertain what took place at the weekend. We are hoping he can give us an insight into why these events took place. But at the moment, we have no idea why they occurred."
Mr Foster said charges against Mr Dormer may be considered, but it was too early to say what they might be.
His partner Clinton Hughes earlier told the Herald his heart sank when he saw Mr Dormer's burned-out car on the television news.
Mr Dormer sent Mr Hughes, 23, a text at about 3.30pm saying he was being followed by a car and was going to stop and try to note the registration.
Less than six hours later, his white 1998 Honda Accord was found burning near Katikati in the Bay of Plenty.
Mr Hughes said the sight of the wrecked Honda, which was fitted with white mags and was Mr Cameron's "pride and joy", has left him fearful for his partner of four years.
"The major thing for me is that that car's burnt out, because he wouldn't do that," Mr Hughes said yesterday.
He said that before seeing the car on the news on Monday night, the reality of his partner's disappearance had not sunk in.
Mr Hughes tried calling Mr Dormer multiple times from about 6pm on Saturday, and by the next morning, he was beside himself after receiving a call from police about the burned car.
"My stomach started to go and my heart started to hurt," he said.
He said his partner had disappeared for brief periods before when they had arguments, but never without contacting him or other family members.
Mr Dormer runs a web-based communications company but had no enemies that Mr Hughes knew of and had never experienced anti-gay sentiment in Hastings.
Police earlier said they were also mystified by the disappearance, and "keeping an open mind".
Mr Hughes was reluctant to be photographed by the Herald, only allowing a silhouetted picture, saying Mr Dormer was a "very, very private person" who would not like to see his partner's face in the newspapers.
He said they lived a quiet life - "we were like husband and wife. We'd stay home and watch movies" - but had shared a close bond since meeting on the internet.
"He knows me better than anybody. He's my life."
Mr Dormer is the youngest of three sons and his New Plymouth-based father, John, and eldest brother, Elliot, also made heartfelt pleas for his return. Cameron had visited them last week.
- Additional reporting NZPA
