Te Anihana Pomana was last seen leaving the SkyCity Hotel in central Auckland just after 5am on 21 August. Photo: Supplied / Police
The sister of a woman who went missing in Auckland over a month ago has come to the city, appealing to locals for help in the search.
Twenty-five-year-old Te Anihana Pomana was last seen leaving the SkyCity Hotel in central Auckland just after 5am on the morning of 21 August, leaving all her belongings in the hotel.
Police earlier this month said she had withdrawn cash before her disappearance, and that her bank account had not been used since.
Pomana was last seen on Victoria Street West.
Police had earlier said with such vast networks of CCTV in Auckland city, it was surprising Pomana had not been seen on CCTV after leaving Sky City hotel.
One of Pomana's older sisters, Ebony Stevenson Pomana, had travelled from Dunedin to Auckland to distribute flyers and speak to businesses around the area where her sister went missing
"There's only so much you can do when you're in another city, let alone a completely different island," Pomana said.
"I've travelled here to try and appeal for any messages to keep the search for my sister alive, it's really crucial to me."
Ebony Pomana said they needed to do a full sweep of the area.
Many of the spaces they wanted to search were private property or construction areas, she said, and urged those owners to help.
"Obviously it's a mass area, a lot of buildings, a lot of area like that to cover, obviously there's access issues to get to check all of these places.
"We really are needing the assistance from the New Zealand police and the public; business owners, managers, property owners, anyone that may be able to assist, we would greatly appreciate.
"Areas of interest to us at this stage would be, maybe, places often not tenanted or often not having many people through, maybe more abandoned spaces or crawl spaces, or empty stairwells, alleys, more concealed places to be honest."
Pomana encouraged locals to check those spaces thoroughly, and to contact police if they found anything suspicious.
"Any spaces they're not willing to check that might be hidden, I'm happy to check myself if I'm granted access.
"There's a lot of area to cover..."
She was also appealing for those who might be able to help with language barriers she comes across while speaking to a range of nationalities.
"Anyone from these communities that might be able to help with that would be appreciated," Pomana said.
"We've been using Google Translate as we can, but there is a real language barrier there, and that's from multiple nationalities."
Her day in the city on Thursday had been disheartening, she said.
"It is challenging, I'm trying to approach businesses, these places, I have to respect, are also their livelihoods, and all I can do is ask them for their assistance, but they are in full right to not offer that to me which I have to respect, but is also hard as a human."
Pomana said she checked in with police often, but it was a case of not knowing where to begin.
She asked them to help in a sweep of the immediate area, saying she felt it was crucial.
Pomana said it had been an extremely challenging time, with many unanswered questions.
"This obviously has caused a lot of stress, our main concern is locating Te Anihana, so that has been hard for all of our whānau," she said.
Timeline of Te Anihana Pomana's disappearance
Early August: Pomana travelled from Dunedin to Christchurch with her father.
2 August: She arrived in Auckland and was treated at Middlemore Hospital for existing injuries. She was later discharged.
It's believed she moved between multiple hostels, hotels, and bedsits in early August.
18 August: Pomana checked into SkyCity Hotel in Central Auckland, at 11.11pm.
20 August: She was seen on CCTV boarding WX1 bus from Hobson Street at 6.37pm. Police believed she travelled to Lincoln Rd in Henderson then returned to city.
21 August: There was a confirmed sighting on CCTV of Pomana leaving Sky City at 5.06am, where she left all of her belongings behind. The last confirmed sighting was on Victoria Street West that day at 5.16am.
29 August: Police released CCTV of her last known movements.
5 September: Pomana's mother and police issue an appeal for information about her location.
25 September: Police say despite many people coming forward with information, there had been no new sightings.
1 October: Pomana's family issue an update on social media, saying there had been no sightings or bank movements since her disappearance.
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