Missing Woman Mystery: Police Looking For Melissa Ewings Trace Phone 100 Meters

Detectives investigating the mysterious sudden disappearance of a Marlborough woman tracked her phone within 100 meters of her home.

Melissa Ewings, 31, has not been seen for eight days despite an extensive police search operation and growing fears for her safety from concerned family members.

His family says it is out of place for the enthusiastic adventurer not to keep in touch with the family.

Ewings lived alone in a rented house in Clarence, 60 kilometers north of Kaikoura.

She was last seen just before dark on Sunday, September 20, and did not show up for work at a beekeeping business just 400 meters from her home the next morning.

Ewings had previously lived in accommodation at the beekeeping operation, used primarily by seasonal workers and including a caravan, but had moved into his own place about a month ago.

On the day she was last seen, she visited the neighbors around noon.

They told the Herald that she looked “beautiful as gold” and “happy” during the half-hour visit.

An official search for missing persons began last Monday.

Ewings’ home was reportedly found closed, with his car abandoned along with his wallet and bank cards. None of his personal belongings were missing.

“Everything was there, nothing had been taken or moved out of the house,” said Dulcie Brumpton, her Gold Coast grandmother.

However, the phone was missing.

The Herald understands that police then tracked the phone via cellular data to within 100 meters of his home.

Web searches were conducted around his property, including tall grass paddocks, State Highway One, and native shrubbery. Neighbors have also been trying to find it and metal detectors have been used. It is unclear if it has yet been found.

A search team is known to have even tried to phone the mobile device from a nearby hillside at night to see if it produced light in the dark.

Police have also seized CCTV from neighboring properties and searched it for clues.

Police search teams have searched all local properties and spoken to residents, the Herald understands, along with search and rescue teams traversing the nearby Clarence River, which has been swollen and muddy since his disappearance. Checks of the coast have also been carried out, while helicopters have been watching from the sky.

“It’s been more than seven days and it’s a complete mystery. Something’s not right,” a local told the Herald.

Search teams from across the South Island are in the Clarence area assisting local police, a spokesman said.

They have searched a large area around Clarence and the Clarence River daily.

“The search will continue for the next few days, weather permitting,” the spokesman told the Herald.

Blenheim CIB detectives are investigating Ewings’ disappearance. The police have a mobile base installed nearby and officers were seen in the area today.

Ewing’s employers were not at home when the Herald called this afternoon. They have not responded to messages.

The family had been told that Ewings had encountered two older women during his walk Sunday night.

“They said they saw her get in her car and drive home, but no one has seen her since.

“I thought she was actually down … but these women said they saw her drive home so I don’t know.”

Ewings’ mother is said to be distraught and has barely slept since learning of her disappearance when her boss reported it Monday morning.

“He travels a lot and was working on [Clarence] … and he loved his job, he loved it. So it’s very strange that all of this happened, “Brumpton said.

Brumpton said he last spoke with his granddaughter on Friday.

Ewings was in a good mood and was telling her about possible plans to attend a car show on Saturday with a friend from work.

Brumpton said it was odd that Ewings had not contacted anyone.

“We’re starting to hesitate a bit. It’s strange for her not to have been in contact with someone. She contacts everyone, the whole family, all the time.”

Ewings’ was one of five siblings, he said, and part of a larger close-knit family.

A police spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that search teams from across the South Island were in the Clarence area assisting local police with the search.

“On September 20, Melissa left an address in Clarence Valley for a walk. She had not indicated that she would be leaving for a long period.”

Search teams had been searching every day since “in a large area around Clarence and the river,” the spokeswoman said.

The search would continue for the next few days, “weather permitting.”

As to whether the police were treating her disappearance as a suspect, the spokeswoman said she was being treated “like a missing person and the police are keeping an open mind about what happened.”