{"id":95215,"date":"2025-05-12T11:33:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/95215\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T11:33:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:33:17","slug":"search-for-bristol-hiker-missing-in-new-zealand-paused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/95215\/","title":{"rendered":"Search for Bristol hiker missing in New Zealand \u2018paused\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Eli Sweeting was reported missing after failing to return from a hike up a steep mountain<a class=\"Badge_badge-link__41H_0 \" href=\"https:\/\/www.bristolpost.co.uk\/news\/\" data-testid=\"badge-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_e48d81\">Ruby Cline, PA<\/strong> and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_e48d81\">Jamie Hawkins<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>11:39, 12 May 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_MS_BGS_08_05_25_MissingJPG.jpg\" alt=\"Eli Sweeting \" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Eli Sweeting (Image: Supplied\/ NZHerald)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The search for a Bristol hiker who disappeared in New Zealand more than a week ago has been \u201cpaused\u201d, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Eli Sweeting, 25, was reported missing on Sunday, May 4, after failing to return from a hike up Mitre Peak, a steep mountain in Milford Sound in the South Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A large-scale search and rescue operation was launched shortly before midnight, with teams scouring \u201cdangerous and challenging terrain\u201d for several days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">On Monday, New Zealand Police said the force had made the \u201cdifficult decision\u201d to pause search efforts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A police statement said: \u201cIn the last six days police have carried out extensive searches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe have focused on searching the route used by climbers as well as an aerial search of the entire area using two helicopters and thermal imagery.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cAdditionally a drone has also been deployed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe have been supporting the family and we know this is difficult news for them to hear at what has been an incredibly distressing time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cPolice remain in frequent contact with the family.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The force added: \u201cWhile the search has now been paused, we will be reviewing our efforts and looking to see if there is anything further we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gofundme.com\/f\/help-find-eli-25-years-old-missing-on-mitre-peak-newzeland\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">GoFundMe page set up to support the search for Mr Sweeting, who is originally from Bristol, has raised more than \u00a312,000.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">In a message on the site, Mr Sweeting\u2019s sister Serena said: \u201cMy brother has always enjoyed being in the mountains, and adventure is what he lives for.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cEli is one of the kindest, most compassionate people in my life, and he has always been there for me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cHe inspires me to live and get out of my comfort zone, as well as listens and genuinely wants to know you and your story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cWe are based in England. We just want him home safe. We just pray they find Eli.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The page said search teams had been \u201cworking around the clock\u201d in \u201cunbelievably dense alpine bush\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eli Sweeting was reported missing after failing to return from a hike up a steep mountainNews Ruby Cline,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":84202,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,748,393,4884,378,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-95215","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-in-the-news","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114494649346218428","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95215"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95215\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}