Constable John Fredericksen said the search for the 33-year-old would resume from Friday to Sunday next week.
The new research, compiled by police clinical psychologist David Scott in the past few months, has shown it was possible someone with an impairment such as Nigel's could have wandered into thicker scrub and bush than initially thought.
He said there was a 50 per cent chance Nigel would be found within a 1.2km radius of his last sighting.
Most of that area had already been thoroughly searched, except for dense bush in the Whakarewarewa Forest area inland from Hemo Rd.
Fredericksen said the original search stopped at a stream in that area as advice at the time said Nigel wouldn't have crossed the stream into bush.
However, the new research contradicts that.
Fredericksen said police requested the profiling in December last year and it was completed at the end of April.
He said it involved sifting through hundreds of pages of documents and analysing all search data.
A team of police will start the search on Friday and will be joined by up to 20 volunteers on Saturday and Sunday. Chris Peterson, Nigel's father, said the new search proved the police had not given up and the family was grateful.
"We are hoping for a miracle but we are realistic."
He said the family thought about Nigel constantly and missed him terribly.
"This is the worst scenario to be in where we have no answers or no ideas as to what happened.
"It hurts a lot but we are trying to carry on because there are lots of other people in our lives who depend on us."
He said Nigel's caregivers were finding it hard as they loved him like family.
Nigel ran away from his 24-hour caregiver. Given his condition, he had misunderstood where he was being driven, despite his caregiver trying to reassure him.
He jumped out of the car and ran away despite her efforts to convince him to come back. When she sought help to get him back in the car, he was nowhere to be seen.
Chris said the caregiver who last saw him was devastated.
"She is a lovely person. They are all such great people and I guess that's part of the reason he just took off [because he thought he was going somewhere else]."
Nigel is described as a slim man of medium height. He was wearing a green T-shirt, light brown pants, brown sneakers and possibly a denim jacket.
The search:
• November 17, 3pm: Nigel Peterson last seen at 3pm on Otonga Rd, heading towards Old Taupo Rd
• November 17, 4pm: Credible sighting of Nigel at the Hemo Gorge intersection
• November 21: Police began a door-to-door search of more than 1200 properties in the area
• November 24: Police used heat-seeking drones
• November 25-26: Police covered the area south of Rotorua towards Tumunui
• November 27: Heli-resources loaned a helicopter to cover a large area around SH5 and Highlands Loop Rd
• December 1: Police spent 45 minutes giving out flyers to cars travelling through Hemo Gorge
• December 3: Potentially useful information was received from the area around Lake Rerewhakaaitu
• December 5: Police temporarily suspended the ground search as they continued inquiries into credible sightings
• December 9-10: Police and Land Search and Rescue completed searches south of Tumunui on SH5 and out towards Lake Rerewhakaaitu on SH38
• December 9-10: Police ask the Behaviour Science Unit to help build a better understanding of Peterson.
