By LOUISA CLEAVE, NATASHA HARRIS and NZPA
A police hunt is under way for a 6-year-old girl who did not turn up for class but was discovered missing only when her mother went to pick her up from her small rural school.
Coral-Ellen Burrows was dropped at the South Featherston School
gates in the Wairarapa by her stepfather at 9am yesterday.
The alarm was raised when her mother went to collect her daughter at 4pm from the school, 3km from her home.
School board chairwoman Sandra Walters said the community were helping in the search for Coral-Ellen.
"We're all terribly concerned about what's happening, especially given it's been wet all day and she's a little girl."
Senior Sergeant Murray Johnston of Masterton said police had no evidence of foul play.
Coral-Ellen had been dropped off in the morning by her stepfather. "Then mum came back at 4pm to pick her up and the school said, 'No, we haven't seen her all day'."
Police described Coral-Ellen as European with shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a fluoro-pink quilted jacket, red pants with a white stripe down each leg and blue T-shirt and carrying a red backpack with black shoulder straps.
More than 50 police, search and rescue workers and volunteers combed the areas around the school and home and door-knocked all properties between the two.
Mr Johnston said the area was mainly farmland but "there are mega places to hide for a 6-year-old".
Sergeant Ben Offner said the 3km stretch of roadside between South Featherston School and Featherston township, the school grounds, the area surrounding the school grounds and Coral-Ellen's Woodward St house had been searched.
Her school friends had been spoken to.
Coral-Ellen had not run off before and there had been no indication of trouble at home or a fight with other pupils, he said.
A helicopter searched the area but bad weather limited flying time.
It was hoped it could resume flying at first light today.
Mr Offner said about 50mm of rain fell throughout the day. The conditions had made searching difficult.
He declined to comment on how long someone could survive outside. The overnight temperature was expected to be 4C.
"All we are focusing on is finding Coral-Ellen.
"The family are understandably upset and are doing their best to deal with this."
Police were appealing for sightings of or information about Coral-Ellen and wanted people living between Featherston and the school to search buildings on their property.
Later Sergeant Offner said the search party was scaled down at 11.30pm, but the search would return to a full scale at first light. He said no items belonging to the girl were found.
"We've done as much as we can in the dark but some of us will continue working through the night.
" We've got a helicopter coming at first light and then we'll do a concentrated search off the beaten track," he said.
Resident Alec Webster said Coral-Ellen's disappearance was scary.
"To think that someone can be dropped off at school and then just disappear is horrifying."
Ms Walters would not comment on why the school did not realise Coral-Ellen was missing all day. She said the school had a system to pick up absent pupils.
South Featherston School, with 60 pupils and four teachers, has won praise from inspectors, who say it is characterised by a sense of family.
A review last year said the roll had doubled since 1999 and the board was focused on re-establishing the school as the centre of the community.
The disappearance echoes the case of 6-year-old Teresa Cormack, who disappeared while walking to her Napier school in 1987.
After her murder schools around the country introduced better notifying procedures.
By LOUISA CLEAVE, NATASHA HARRIS and NZPA
A police hunt is under way for a 6-year-old girl who did not turn up for class but was discovered missing only when her mother went to pick her up from her small rural school.
Coral-Ellen Burrows was dropped at the South Featherston School
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