A 76-year-old man who has been missing for days in dense bushland initially got lost while trying to retrieve his bogged car.
Search efforts for Peter Willoughby involving ground crews, a helicopter, drone, horse riders and a wilderness paramedic resumed on Tuesday morning in northeast Tasmania.
Mr Willoughby, who has a medical condition that can cause him to become disoriented, was reported missing on Sunday afternoon.
Searchers resumed scouring the dense scrub for signs of Peter Willoughby on Tuesday morning. (HANDOUT/TASMANIA POLICE)
He was in bushland near Launceston with others trying to retrieve his bogged station wagon from a rural road.
"He's become disoriented, wandered off into the bush and he hasn't been seen since," Tasmania Police Inspector Nick Clark said.
Police had helped Mr Willoughby several days earlier when his car initially got stuck.
They hold serious concerns for his welfare and the potential of hypothermia, with heavy rain and strong winds lashing the region in recent days.
Mr Willoughby had been in bushland near Launceston with others when he became disoriented. (HANDOUT/TASMANIA POLICE)
Mr Willoughby was wearing a dark blue jumper, blue jeans and sneakers when he was last seen.
"The longer this search is taking ... the greater our concerns are," Insp Clark said.
"But the key message is we are still actively searching and we're hoping for a positive outcome."
Several hikers have died in recent weeks after getting into trouble in freezing conditions in southeast Australia.
The bodies of two women were discovered in an alpine hut by a pair of bushwalkers on Friday northeast of the popular Falls Creek ski resort in Victoria.
A tourist died and two bushwalkers were rescued with hypothermia in Cradle Mountain National Park. (HANDOUT/TASMANIA POLICE)
A tourist from China who was walking with a group in Tasmania's Cradle Mountain National Park died in late September after becoming overwhelmed by cold weather.
Less than a week later, two bushwalkers were rescued from the same national park with mild hypothermia.
In a separate incident in Tasmania, a 49-year-old woman was killed on Thursday when a raft flipped in rapids on the Franklin River in world-heritage wilderness.
[SRC] https://www.inkl.com/news/concerns-rise-for-76-year-old-lost-in-dense-bushland
