POSSIBLY SEEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 16 October 1941, Page 6

POSSIBLY SEEN

WEST COAST FUGITIVE

INDICATIONS OF FREE MOVEMENT.

FRESH FOOTPRINTS FOUND

IN PADDOCK.

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) HOKITIKA, October 15

Far from being dead or so gravely wounded that he cannot move freely, Stanley Graham is believed to have been seen last night in an area where no one else would be likely to be —in a paddock fringing Mt. Doughboy, about four miles from the Graham house. Further likely proof that it was he was discovered when a search party today covered that area and found fresh footprints which it is considered were made by boots stolen, among other things, from Mr. Charles Smith’s hut at the foot of Mt. CameL back last Friday. The track made by a .405 bullet from Graham’s Mauser automatic was found today in the Koiterangi Hall foundations. Believed to have been fired by Graham on Monday morning, the bullet went right through timbering to a total extent of seven inches.

The search was continued today and will be intensified tomorrow, when from 150 to 200 men will keep in line abreast, a few feet between each man. Graham did not come back to his house last night. It is believed the number of night guards is now being reduced to leave men fresh for the “extended order” search tomorrow, when a determined attempt will be made to find Graham.

Mr Ridley is still on the seriously ill list.

BUSH SCOURED

NO TRACE OF WANTED MAN. AIR SEARCH ALSO ABORTIVE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Koiterangi was all quiet last night. Rain set in from the north-west at ten o’clock and came down in torrents. This morning police parties were out scouring the bush once more, their search being chiefly directed over the area east of Koiterangi where Graham is supposed to have been seen on Tuesday night. A combined search on a big scale by police and residents was called off. There is good reason to believe now that Graham is not as badly wounded as was at first thought. The police at Koiterangi said this morning that they could not confirm the fact that tracks had been found in the Mount Doughboy region. Selected police parties from the day shift of eighty men available went' out this morning, accompanied by local Home Guardsmen who have an expert knowledge of the country. An aerial search late yesterday afternoon, revealed nothing of Graham’s movements, but was valuable in uncovering many possible hiding places in the Hokitika Valley country and round Mount Doughboy. The police now seem certain that this is the most likely area in which to find Graham. In this wild country there are many huts used by deer stalkers and musterers, and with wild weather blowing up it is probable that Graham would use one of these shelters instead of staying in the dank, dripping bush. From Smith’s Hut, where he abandoned clothing, to the Doughboy region is not more than five miles as the crow flies. The story of boot marks having been found and a trail picked up near Growcott's yesterday afternoon was denied by the police this morning. It was also stated that there was no truth in a report that Graham had been seen at Stopforth’s Timber Mill, east of Doughboy and further into the .ranges.