KEY POINTS:
Missing Mount Maunganui schoolgirl Julie Davis was spotted at the Miranda Hot Springs near Thames on Wednesday with Waikato man Craig Howard. But police have not been able to track them since.
Detective Peter Sweeney, of Tauranga Police, said he had two phone calls overnight reporting possible sightings. But after a week, police had still not located Julie, 14, a Mount Maunganui College pupil, and Mr Howard, 41, from Waingaro.
Mr Sweeney said that after the pair were seen at the Miranda springs, the owner rang her parents- in-law at the Waingaro Hot Springs on Wednesday evening, telling them that "by the way, Craig was here on a day out that afternoon".
He was with a young female fitting Julie's description, said Mr Sweeney.
Julie went missing on July 4 after friends saw her walking along Topaz Drive in Papamoa at 3.45pm. She was in her school's a red top and grey skirt.
"The longer this goes on, the more I become concerned over her welfare," said Mr Sweeney. "She's a 14-year- old and should be with her family. He's 41 and he should know better."
Mr Sweeney said they appeared to be out and about if they had visited Miranda springs on Wednesday: "I'm hoping someone will see the car and report it to us."
Mr Howard is understood to be driving a grey 1989 Subaru Legacy station wagon, registration UE 4661.
- BOP TIMES
