Search for love makes headlines

Reese McKee. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Reese McKee's search for love has made headlines around the world, but not everyone has been complimentary about it.

The lovestruck Wellington man launched a campaign last week to track down a mystery American woman he met in Hong Kong last New Year's Eve.

However, he admitted he was "a little naive'' after the campaign went viral and "Katie'' was found by hordes of aspiring romantics, resulting in her pulling down all her social media profiles.

"It turned into a massive 'let's stalk every Katie in the DC area'. I was trying to get people to stop that, but with 2000 plus people messaging ... it got a bit out of hand,'' he said.

In a column titled "Stop rewarding 'romantic' stalker behaviour online'' Australian writer Clem Bastow drew comparisons between Mr McKee's campaign and that of web designer Patrick Moberg's 2007 appeal to find "the girl of his dreams'' who he saw on a subway in New York but couldn't pluck up the courage to talk to.

After setting up a website to find the girl, they were united ... only to break up two months later.

"The situation was so intense that we bonded in a way that you could mistake for being more romantic than it was,'' he said in hindsight.

Representatives from Facebook, Good Morning America, TV stations and radio stations in Canada and Australia had contacted Mr McKee with interview requests but he has turned them all down.

"The thing bloody exploded, God, the article went everywhere'' Mr McKee said.

Mr McKee told APNZ last week he was walking around Hong Kong admiring the lights when he found the mystery woman crying on the side of the road.

After spending the night drinking and dancing, they departed. Her last words: "Find me'', before slipping away into the dawn of New Year's Day.

"Yeah, I'll find you,'' he said, before realising all he had to go off was her first name, Katie, a photo he found on his phone and the fact she was from "DC''.

He said he had no idea whether Katie was single or not and was yet to decide whether he would wait for her to get in touch with him, or contact her directly.

Headlines inspired by Reese's appeal:

* Awww! Guy Needs Our Help to Find Real-Life Cinderella He Met Last New Year's Eve - TheStir.CafeMom.com

* Social media aids the lovestruck - SocialAcceptability.ca

* This Guy Is Asking The Interwebs For Help Finding His Missing Crush - The Frisky

* Guy adorably wants help finding 'the one that got away' on New Year's Eve - Philly.com

* Clingy Dude Can't Take a Hint, Is Trying to Find a Girl He Met Drunk Who Is Clearly Avoiding Him - BarStoolSports.com

* Man Calls On Internet Romantics To Help Find Girl He Met Last New Years - Welcome to Kelowna Now

* Should The Internet Track Down One Man's Manic Pixie Dream Girl? (Probably Not) - Onthemedia.org.