Source: New Zealand Police
Attribute to Detective Sergeant Lucy Aldridge of Christchurch Police:
Today marks a week since Elisabeth “Lis” Nicholls was last seen, and we are making a further appeal to the people of Christchurch for help.
Lis is 79 and has dementia and the last confirmed sighting of her was at the Chateau on the Park in Riccarton, at 7.54pm on Wednesday 4 June.
Searchers and Police have gone door to door, reviewed CCTV footage and made extensive enquiries, but we have not been able to find Lis.
We do not know where she travelled to after the Chateau and have not been able to locate any items that would lead us closer to her.
Police have grave concerns for Lis’s welfare and need the help of the Christchurch community to bring her home.
At the time she disappeared, Lis was wearing a black and grey checked long-sleeved shirt, a maroon long-sleeved top underneath, navy blue jeans and black leather shoes.
She also has distinctive grey shoulder-length hair.
Police are asking members of the public to please search your backyards, sheds and sleepouts, and look under anything where a person could seek shelter.
For anyone with CCTV, Police would like you to review any footage you have from 6.40pm on Wednesday 4 June to 8am on Thursday 5 June. While Lis went missing in the Riccarton area, she is physically strong, and may have walked some distance.
Finally, this past week has been extremely difficult on Lis’s family.
While they have requested privacy, Gary Nicholls, Lis’s husband of nearly 60 years, has provided this statement on behalf of their family:
“Lis is an adored wife, mother, grandmother, friend and colleague, who has always put other people first.
“Her life has been about helping people, through nursing, Plunket and social work. She has been there for people when they needed help, and her influence has touched all our lives for the better.
“We are deeply concerned and have been living with painful uncertainty for a week, but we have been grateful for the love and support that has been shown for Lis.
“On behalf of Lis, our family and friends, I would like to sincerely thank the people of Christchurch for their help and concern, and for the information they have been providing.
“We are also grateful to Police, the Search and Rescue teams, Canterbury University students and the Victoria Neighbourhood Association, who have been dedicating so much time and resource to help us find Lis.
“You have been working in the cold, the rain, and the darkness to bring Lis home to us, and we are incredibly grateful.”
- Anyone who sees Lis should ring 111 immediately and use the reference number 250604/5465. Non-urgent information can be provided online at 105.police.govt.nz, using “Update Report”, quoting the same reference number.
ENDS
Issued by the Police Media Centre
