POLICE have focused their search for a 72-year-old man believed missing near Narrung on a few kilometres of the Murray River south of Boundary Bend.
Swan Hill Inspector Gerard de Vries said the search for Wayne Tripptree, which began on Tuesday morning, would continue and that they were gathering valuable information.
"We haven’t been able to locate Wayne, but what we have achieved is identifying a really large area in which he is not," he said.
"We’ve got a large amount of people out there, and this is something that takes time.
"A massive amount of this is about trying to give the family some comfort, and showing them the extent we have gone to and being able to discount some of this area.
"The family has been up here and conducting their own searches, so this is about being able to show the family exactly what we’ve done."
Police from Victoria and NSW were involved in the search, which is scouring land and water, with NSW police and the SES using search boats.
Mounted police units and a drone having been giving searchers different perspectives.
Insp de Vries said searchers had been dealing with difficult terrain.
"There’s a number of difficulties that we face in the search, obviously the environment itself," he said.
"There’s a lot of long grass out there, all the scrub and the bush, and some hidden areas that are uneven underfoot.
"We’ve had a couple of encounters with snakes, so it’s really important for us to brief our people about how they conduct a search like this.
"The SES members have been fabulous; in the majority of cases, they are volunteers who are out here helping."
Insp de Vries asked for anyone with information on Mr Tripptree's disappearance to come forward.
"We will continue to work in regard to Wayne’s disappearance," he said.
"Even though we’ve circulated information about Wayne, it doesn’t mean that everyone has heard it at this point.
"Sometimes people can come forward with information that may help us out.
"This will remain an active investigation, and we will continue to investigate any information that comes our way."
Anyone with information regarding Mt Tripptree's disappearance is asked to call Crime Stoppers or Swan Hill police.
