https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/des ... 50lx0.html
A large-scale search has resumed for bushwalkers who have been missing since the weekend in bushland west of Nowra.
Police believe 59-year-old William McCarthy and 60-year-old Francisca Boterhoven De Haan, went bushwalking in the Ettrema Gorge in Ettrema on Saturday.
Francisca Boterhoven De Haan and William McCarthy are believed to be missing in bushland west of Nowra.
Inspector Ray Stynes said the pair had planned to go on a three-day bushwalk, and the alarm was raised with police about 1.30pm on Wednesday when Mr McCarthy failed to return to his Canberra home as planned.
"They’re a day overdue, so that’s when we got notified," he said.
Police from the South Coast Police District and SES volunteers then began searching the dense bushland of Ettrema Gorge in the Morton National Park, helped by police, ambulance and Westpac helicopters.
About 4pm, Mr McCarthy's car was found in a car park on Tolwong Road in Ettrema, but Inspector Stynes said no other belongings have been found.
"'[We] found a car yesterday afternoon, and we're using that as the start point for the search," he said.
The search was suspended overnight and resumed at 7am on Thursday.
"At the moment we’ve got search teams on foot already in place in the bush, they're just waiting for weather to improve so they can continue their search," Inspector Stynes said.
"Weather permitting, we’ll have more aircraft in the air and just concentrating on that area of the gorge."
While the weather is not expected to be as bad as last month’s wild storms, Weatherzone said the next few days will experience “extreme weather”.
Inspector Styne said search coordinators were concerned about the weather, with poor visibility and significant rainfall expected to hit the area over the next 24 hours.
"At the moment, visibility is up to about 100 metres in the gorge, 200 metres at the top of the gorge, and we're expecting rain and thunderstorms this afternoon," he said.
The Inspector said bushland in the national park was "fairly thick", making the search difficult.
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"It’s a gorge so obviously it's got cliff edges and it’s hard to access," he said.
Inspector Stynes said searchers have serious concerns for the pair's welfare, because it is unclear how many supplies they have and they are not believed to have an emergency beacon.
He urged anyone who might know about Mr McCarthy and Ms Boterhoven De Haan's bushwalking capacity, or what equipment they might have with them, to contact police.
"If they know of any equipment that they've brought with them that we wouldn't know about, then just their experience and fitness levels, if people could contact the police and give us that information then we can forward that on to the rescue coordinators," he said.
