Detectives investigating the disappearance of Hawke's Bay drug dealer Philip John Cowan have failed to make breakthrough despite interviewing scores of people.
Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Vaughan said a large number of people had been spoken to by the 10 detectives still working on the case, but nothing had emerged
to indicate what had happened to Mr Cowan.
The 26-year-old went missing after a visit to Wellington last March.
Inquiries revealed he had been actively involved in the cultivation and selling of cannabis throughout the lower North Island.
His car had been found abandoned in Bulls a week after the last sighting of him in the capital.
Mr Vaughan said a crucial part of the inquiry now revolved around identifying traces of blood found in the car.
He expected the results of forensic examinations to be available in about a fortnight. Eight Wellington detectives and two from Napier were still working on the inquiry.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
