Missing motorcyclist found dead

Hawke's Bay police were about to launch a search for a missing motorcyclist when his body was discovered in a gully. File photo / NZ Herald

A search was getting underway for a missing motorcyclist in southern Hawke's Bay this morning, when his body was found by a farmer near Ormondville.

Tony George Summerell, 41, left the Norsewood area on a motorcycle about 4pm yesterday, and about 1.30am today relatives contacted police to report him missing.

Plans were being put in motion for a daylight search with the help of a fixed wing aircraft.

Family members were also starting making their own enquiries and searching.

About 10am police were told a farmer had found the body of the man down a gully near his farm on Buckland Road, Ormondville.

Family members had spoken to the farmer when they were searching, so when he saw some disturbance in the undergrowth near his farm he had gone to investigate and made the discovery.

Buckland Road began as a sealed road and then became an unsealed metal road.

The bike had left the road along an unsealed section, and dropped approximately five to 10 metres down a gully.

The cause of the crash was being investigated.

- NZPA