At 2.39pm on 24 July, roughly two hours after he had been reported missing, Roy Arbon's phone put him in a wide-open clearing.
Just 12 minutes later, there was no sign of him, and his phone hasn't been active since.
This is the latest development in the search for the 75-year-old Rūnanga man who never returned home from a walk in the hills.
Mr Arbon left on 23 July, leaving a handwritten note:
Gone for walk
Mt Davy to Mt Sewell
Back tonight or tomorrow morning
After finding the note, a concerned neighbour raised the alarm at midday on the 24th and since then, rescuers have been combing every track Mr Arbon could have taken.
2.39pm, then nothing
On 28 July, the rescue team got a lead after polling on Mr Arbon's phone pinpointed his last position. It showed that at 2.39pm on 24 July, Mr Arbon was in an open area, roughly 1 kilometre north of Sewell Peak's repeater and 2 kilometres south of Mount Davy, heading south.
That appears to be the last time the phone was active, but it gave searchers a place to focus.
At 2.51pm, 12 minutes after the phone "pinged", a Police Sergeant was flying over that exact location in a helicopter, taking video of the search area, Senior Sergeant Kirkwood says.
"When we reviewed the footage, we couldn't find any sign of Mr Arbon in it. We know his phone was absolutely in that area, and we know the polling is right - you get perfect reception up there because you're right by the repeater.
"In this area, you're a good distance from the cover of bush, and it would've been a struggle for him to walk that far that fast.
"We have spoken to two people who walked the same route in the same direction, and they didn't see him. It's really odd."
A herculean effort
Senior Sergeant Mark Kirkwood says more than 750 search hours have been spent by the ground teams alone.
"The search team is pretty flat, we don't like not being able to return someone home," he says. "We've had 18 people in an extended line looking for anything that will lead us to him, but there's been nothing, it's unusual."
It's not a small search area, nor easy to search. Teams made up of Police staff, Land Search and Rescue personnel, and canines have been doing their utmost, but days of "nothing" have followed. No definitive footprints, no discarded items, no scent to track.
It's been gruelling, painstaking work, in West Coast conditions.
"The community response has been fantastic, locals have been offering us support and someone offered us the use of their helicopter. It's been outstanding, as usual. People really care about each other."
Back to the beginning
Senior Sergeant Kirkwood said two Search and Rescue (SAR) experts will carry out a review of the search, on top of one that had been completed by the Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB). Reviews are a normal part of the search process and are carried out by people who weren't part of the initial search.
Fresh eyes might turn up new leads.
"We'll be looking at the teleco [telecommunications] data, the information that was called in by the public, where teams searched and what they found.
"We're looking at anything that will give us a lead.
"We want to bring Mr Arbon home and are doing everything we can to make that happen.
"If we still don't have any leads in the coming weeks, we'll be back out there with specialist search dogs - we're not giving up."
Police continue to ask the public to report any information regarding Roy or his whereabouts via our 105 service, referencing file number 250725/2139.
