Manhunt: Police scour island for kidnapper, missing woman

Photo / Natalie Slade

Heavily armed police are continuing to hunt for a man wanted for abducting his ex-girlfriend and attacking her new partner with a crowbar on Great Barrier Island.

Residents of the Hauraki Gulf island have been officially warned by police to lock cars and homes and stay inside.

The search started yesterday when a large police team went to the island and were scouring the bush for missing 20-year-old Nortessa Montgomerie, who was taken from her father's home on the east coast of the island.

Investigation lead Detective Inspector Scott Beard says he is concerned that the missing woman, or her alleged abductor, have not been sighted for over 24 hours.

"The status of the search and the investigation is fluid. We have yet to fully determine what has happened after the victim was assaulted.

"All holiday homes and baches in the Claris area are being canvassed," he said, adding that the Westpac Rescue helicopter would be used to carry out aerial surveillance of the island today.

Nearly 30 officers, including the armed offenders squad and specialist search teams with dogs are hunting for a man, believed to be her ex-boyfriend.

Police called off the search late last night, and resumed scouring the island at first light this morning.

It is understood the wanted man hit Ms Montgomerie's new boyfriend with a crowbar during the abduction on Thursday night. Police were called about midnight

The injured man was airlifted to Auckland Hospital, and was in a stable condition with a head injury.

Rain was hampering the search last night, and police said concern for Ms Mongomerie's safety and wellbeing was increasing.

Earlier, officers were seen clambering through the bush beside the two-storeyed house overlooking the sea near Claris from which Ms Montgomerie was taken.

Other police were combing nearby swampland.

An armed offenders squad officer armed with a Bushmaster rifle warned Herald reporters to return to the police station.

"It's a safety thing," she said. "We don't know what we're dealing with here."

Police were last night saying little, but Great Barrier locals were abuzz about the manhunt and the search for "one of our girls".

Family friend Dilly Hofmans said she woke yesterday morning to news that Ms Montgomerie had been kidnapped from during the night.

She had noticed the number of police officers on the island and the Eagle helicopter equipped with heat-seeking technology hovering above.

But residents had been kept in the dark.

"I am really, really, really worried, we all are," said Ms Hofmans.

"The whole island is up in arms and we can't do anything because we have been told to stay put and lock the doors, take the keys out of the car because he's not a very nice man, apparently."

Ms Hofmans said Ms Montgomerie was "a lovely girl to be with".

"She's fun, she's out there ... It's one of our girls."

Ms Montgomerie lives in Auckland to study and returns to Great Barrier Island for holidays.

Ms Hofmans said it was unlikely the man police were seeking had escaped the island.

"They can't get off, that's for sure ... once you are on the island and something like this happens there is no way you can get off.

"She will be here but where, because there is so much bush. There are so many hidden hideaways that you just don't know."

Ms Montgomerie posted a message on Facebook about 7.30pm on Thursday which said, "Peace and quiet".

She has not been heard from since.

Ms Montgomerie had recently broken her foot and was still using crutches to get around.

The former Whangarei Girls High School and Papakura High School student was a frequent visitor to the local Aotea FM radio station, which was yesterday warning residents to not approach the wanted man and appealing to him to give himself up.

Another resident, who asked to be anonymous, said Ms Montgomerie's father, Pete, was "worried sick".

"It's really sad. We don't really know what's going on, everyone's out there looking. This is terrible.

"If he can go up there and whack her partner with a crowbar and not care if he's dead ... everyone is freaking out."

- Additional reporting: Beck Vass and Elizabeth Binning