State Woman Missing In New Zealand

Police are launching a major search for a missing American tourist in the Akaroa region of the Banks Peninsula, southeast of Christchurch, police spokeswoman Kerry Taylor said.

Robyn Paige Kinker, 30, from Washington state, was missing in scrubland in the steeply hilled countryside and a helicopter search late Saturday (Friday U.S. Pacific Time) failed to find any trace of her, Taylor said.

Kinker has been vacationing on New Zealand’s South Island.

Her vehicle was seen by a local farmer on Friday and he called police after seeing it in the same spot on Saturday afternoon.

A police examination showed the vehicle to be unlocked with all the woman’s possessions still in it, Taylor said.