Brothers make plea for missing sister

The three brothers of missing Christchurch deaf woman Emma Agnew made a plea tonight for public sightings of their sister.

Miss Agnew was last heard from on Thursday morning, and her car was found torched in Bromley Park in eastern part of the city that night.

Police hold grave fears for her safety.

Tonight Herbie, Bennie and Toby Agnew, who are also deaf, They spoke of their love for Emma and the family's desperate need to find her.

"I'd like to have my older sister back," Toby told TV One's Close Up programme through a sign language interpreter.

"She looked after me, she helped me, I need her back.

"We all need her back, we all love her, we all love her so much."

Herbie said he believed the public could still help police by reporting possible sightings of Emma.

"From 10.30 in the morning there must have been some people behind Emma's car that could report something. . .just report it," he said.

"Don't say `Oh I can't be bothered', just report it."

Bennie said his sister's red Mazda Familia car had two bright pink pillows, each with the word Roxy on them, and they should have been noticeable.

Anyone who had seen them in the car should phone police.

Asked if Miss Agnew could scream, Herbie replied that she could scream like any hearing person and she could scream very loudly.

Bennie said the family was remaining very positive.

"We have not yet found her and we are going to continue that (searching) until she is found," he said.

Tomorrow there will be a public prayer vigil for Miss Agnew on New Brighton Beach at 7am.

Police are still looking for a man who warned a group in Bromley Park that Miss Agnew's car was "going to blow".

They have spoken to a number of people who were walking dogs on Thursday in the Bromley Park area.

Now they want a particular man who had warned others away from Ms Agnew's car to identify himself so they can ensure they can clarify what he may have seen.

"However as yet we have not confirmed that we've spoken to the person described by other members of the public as having warned them away from the car," said Detective Inspector Tom Fitzgerald, who is leading the hunt.

"We still need to clarify this as we do not believe we have a statement from this person yet."

Mr Fitzgerald said that a police officer may have spoken to the man, however it needed to be followed up with a statement.

The man was described as Caucasian, about 35 to 40 years old, with light-brown hair, short on top but shaved at the sides. He was about 1.85m tall and of a solid build.

He was wearing a tidy dark jacket and jeans, and walking a white, short-haired, pitbull-cross dog.

"The public response is great and we need to be sure we have all the facts," Mr Fitzgerald said.

A silver car seen at the park had been ruled out of the police investigation after the occupants came forward.

Police were also appealing for sightings of Ms Agnew in Christchurch's northern suburbs on Thursday afternoon.

Mr Fitzgerald said police believed she had been in either St Albans, Papanui, Belfast or Redwood after going missing on Thursday morning.

She had been "uncontactable" since 10.35am on Thursday, he said.

Police had executed search warrants to obtain mobile phone records and had spoken to all the people who had sent her text messages about the sale of her car, he said.

Ms Agnew's aunt, Evelyn Pateman, is co-ordinating a poster appeal for information on her niece.

"We don't want to think the worst. We have to be positive and hopeful," Ms Pateman said.

"She's one in a million and the family will go to the bitter end to get her home safely."

Another poster outside the Christchurch Deaf Association advertises a bank account set up by the deaf community to fund a search for their friend.

- NZPA