A Swansea doctor living in New Zealand has been missing for over a week and hundreds of people are helping to search for him.
David Holland, a 31-year-old anaesthetist who is originally from Swansea, was last seen in the evening of Friday, March 11, and a search for him has been ongoing in the days since. Friends of David, who now lives in Tauranga, New Zealand, said they believed he had been planning to go for a swim at a nearby beach, and concerns were raised when he did not show up for work.
There have been extensive efforts made by local police and hundreds of community volunteers to locate the doctor, but so far nothing has been found. On March 19, hundreds of volunteers attended to assist in a wide-scale search of the sand dunes of the Pāpāmoa Beach area. You can get more Swansea and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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New Zealand Police issued a statement saying they were overwhelmed with the support of the community volunteers who assisted in the search. The statement said: "There were 148 volunteer searchers today locating a total of 36 items which were reported back to police. Unfortunately, none of those items have any relevance to the missing doctor.
"The Tauranga Land Search and Rescue teams also searched more difficult areas in the dunes covering spaces that were not visible from the air. Nothing of interest was located. Tauranga Coast Guard have been relaying an “all stations” message to recreational boats in the area today, asking them to be vigilant and contact police if they found anything of interest.
"Sergeant Craig Madden of the Tauranga Search and Rescue would like to acknowledge the efforts of a number of volunteer organisations including the Tauranga and Rotorua Land Search and Rescue, the Mount Maunganui, Omanu and the Papamoa Surf Lifesaving clubs, Tauranga Coastguard and the Coastguard Air Patrol, and community volunteers for their many hours of searching."
New Zealand news outlet Stuff has reported that David sent a text to his ex-partner, Margarita (Rita) Khabitueva saying that he was going for a swim and that he was last seen that evening on CCTV cameras close to the beach area, wearing beige pants, a dark top and cap.
Margarita told Stuff that his family in the UK and friends and colleagues in New Zealand were overwhelmed by the “love and support” from the local community.
She said: “I wish that David could see this, how many people have come together to look for him. He would be blown away. He was so loved. He has touched so many hearts. We are all hurting, and we just want to find him. David is such a caring person - I know that if someone else went missing, he would be the first out looking."
The search for David continued over the weekend.
