The police Eagle helicopter has been brought in to assist with the search.
Photo: Supplied / NZ Police

Police are asking the public for sightings of an 83-year-old swimmer missing for more than three days.

They also want to hear from motorists with dashcam footage from Beach Road around that time.

Police said the man went swimming daily off the shore at Onerahi, wearing a wetsuit and a distinctive pink swimming cap.

Detective Sergeant Paul Overton, of Northland police Search and Rescue, said more resources have been brought in to find the man by air, sea and land resumed today.

The search extended as far as One Tree Point on the other side of the harbour, with the police Eagle helicopter joining a Coastguard boat and plane, and volunteers from the Waipū Cove and Whangārei Heads surf lifesaving clubs, he said.

Volunteers from the Whangārei and Far North LandSAR teams searched the shore.

The search team also deployed a dummy today to establish which way the harbour currents flow.

Whangārei Harbour.
Photo: Northern Acvocate / Tania Whyte

On Tuesday volunteers from the Waipū and Whangārei Heads surf lifesaving clubs also took part in the search.

He said police were keeping an open mind, but concern for the missing man was growing as time went by.

He usually wore a wetsuit and a pink swim cap, and had not been seen since Saturday evening. He was reported missing on Monday.

The search will continue and expand over a wider area tomorrow, he said.

They would decide which area searchers would focus on this evening, but it was likely to be expanded further down the harbour.

Overton said police were supporting the man’s family.

They want to hear from anyone who was in the Beach Road area in Onerahi on Sunday morning, between 8 and 11am.

In a statement on Tuesday, police said: “If you have seen anything, or have any information that could help our search, please update us online now or call 105.

“Please use the reference number 241021/1742.”

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