A former alpine climber, Antarctic worker, Erebus recovery team member and drug smuggling scam victim is missing near Greymouth.
Police are concerned for 75-year-old Roy Arbon, who didn’t return from a walk up Mt Davy to Mt Sewell on Wednesday.
“Roy may be wearing a blue puffer jacket, shorts, hiking boots but this is not confirmed.”
Anyone who has seen Arbon or has any information on his whereabouts is urged to call police on 105, quoting job number P063265345.
Arbon’s good friend of more than 30 years, Graeme Macilquham, confirmed to the his mate was missing.
He said he’d gone up for a day walk and not returned.
The pair had lunch on Tuesday when Arbon had discussed his plans for the tramp.
“It’s a full day tramp,” Macilquham said.
“He had gone up Mt Davy on Sunday for a day walk and he decided to do the traverse.”
Macilquham said he was extremely worried about his friend.
“How would you be if a friend of yours had gone missing for a couple of nights in freezing temperatures?”
Macilquham said police had helicopters and search teams in the hills looking for Arbon and hoped he would be found safe and well.
The Ōtira-based pensioner and beekeeper is well known on the West Coast, but also for his remarkable life story.
In 2021, Arbon was featured in the documentary The Scam, which detailed how he was duped by a sophisticated network of Nigerian scammers and unwittingly transported 2.5kg of cocaine into Australia.
He spent 18 months in an Australian prison before a jury found him not guilty of knowingly trafficking drugs.
A former alpine climber, Arbon once worked on North Sea oil rigs, served in Antarctica, and was part of the grim recovery efforts after the Mt Erebus disaster.
He also responded in the aftermath of the Cave Creek disaster, winning commendations for his work recovering the dead after the West Coast DoC platform collapsed into a ravine.
Arbon was locked up briefly in a Kenyan jail for accidentally breaking a train window.
He also survived a serious fall from scaffolding that broke his back, preventing him from joining a Himalayan expedition where he was replaced by mountaineer Rob Hall.
Arbon previously told the Herald his drug smuggling experience and trial were “pretty harrowing.”
“In total, I probably lost close to half a million. But it’s only money, I’m still alive. Money is meant to be spent.”
He said tdespite what he’d been through, he still tried to see the best in people.
“The Lord trusted Judas. If you can’t trust people, you might as well die.”
Both police Search and Rescue teams, LandSAR volunteers from Greymouth and surrounding areas, and a police search and rescue dog are involved in the mountainous and challenging search.
Ground teams are canvassing routes Arbon may have taken, supported by helicopters.
Police said although Arbon is an experienced hiker, there are concerns for his wellbeing given the cold, and the time he has been overdue.