No immediate safety concerns for missing Will Johnson
Will Johnson who has not been heard from for a week.
Photo:
Supplied
Private investigators trying to find a US aviation student missing for more than a week now say they have no immediate safety concerns for him.
Massey University student William Henry Johnson, known as Will, was last seen in Palmerston North between 30 May and 1 June.
The 24-year-old's last communication with family was on 5 June and he had not responded to any attempts to contact him since.
His parents hired private investigators to find him, and early on Wednesday afternoon Mike Gillam, of The Investigators New Zealand, issued an update on the search efforts.
"Following extensive investigations and recent developments, we now have no immediate concerns for William's physical safety or wellbeing," he said.
"While we cannot release specific details at this time, information received during the investigation indicates that William appears to be safe."
Gillam said the investigation remained active and The Investigators New Zealand were still working with police.
Earlier on Wednesday he told RNZ investigators had received information that potentially confirmed a sighting of Johnson in the central North Island.
"We do want to hear from anyone with information that could be beneficial," he said.
"A lot of the time is spent filtering through and sorting what may be a priority and what may be historic and not of interest to our timeline.
"Certainly, we've appreciated the public outreach and there are a number of lines of inquiry that we're looking into."
Johnson's mother was arriving in New Zealand from Seattle this morning.
William Henry Johnson.
Photo:
Supplied
Johnson was last seen in the Takaro area of Palmerston North.
Gillam said his disappearance was "really traumatising" for his family, who were distraught.
His company had three investigators working on the matter full time.
On Tuesday, Gillam said it was out of character for Johnson not to have contact with his family for such a period of time.
Johnson was known to make off-the-cuff trips to Auckland.
Police have said they received a missing person report on 9 June.
"Police have made a number of various area inquiries in possible locations of interest in the Palmerston North area," a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
"We would encourage William, or anyone who knows his whereabouts, to get in touch with police to confirm he is safe."
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