Police eager to locate phone of missing Auckland student Laurence Wu

Wednesday, 3 April 2019

Guoquan (Laurence) Wu has been missing since March 10. His family are urging the public for any information on his disappearance.

Police believe locating the phone of an Auckland student missing for over three weeks may put an end to the search.

Guoquan Wu, 22, also known as Laurence, was last seen about 1.40pm on March 10 at St Lukes Liquor Centre in Auckland.

His car was found two days later at Piha Beach car park in West Auckland.

Laurence Wu has not been seen in over three weeks.

Auckland City Police Sergeant Tania Kingi said a number of police staff had been working 'tirelessly' to find Wu and multiple searches had been carried out in and around Piha by air and on foot.

* Family hires helicopter in search for Laurence Wu

* Parents of missing student travel from China to Auckland**

Guoquan (Laurence) Wu was last seen on his way to Piha. Left: Lucas Wu (brother), Gui Ting Huang (mother) , Zhen Zhou Wu (father) and cousin Jay Wu.

'We have been supported by the local surf lifesaving clubs who have helped with searching, and volunteers have given their time freely,' Kingi said.

Police were still eager to hear from anyone who had seen Wu and were working hard to find his missing iPhone X which they believed may be vital in finding him.

CCTV footage of Wu showed him in St Lukes on the day he disappeared.

'We are doing everything we can to find him – data from his missing phone shows it was last used in the Piha area, locating it may help us with our enquiries to locate him,' Kingi said.

CCTV of Wu on the day of his disappearance has also been released and shows him wearing long black/charcoal coloured pants, a grey plain t-shirt and a green jacket and possibly white Adidas shoes, with black stripes.

A missing person sign of Guoquan (Laurence) Wu outside the home his family is staying in - Wu has been missing since March 10.

The last anyone had heard of Wu was later that day when he called his ex-girlfriend and told her he was going to Piha, on the West Auckland coast, according to friend Sandy Li.

Wu's family, who arrived in New Zealand from China five days after his disappearance, had been working closely with police to bring him home, Kingi said.

'As you can understand his family are incredibly worried about him, and this has been a very trying time for them.

'They want to know what has happened to their son and we would like the public's help, to help us give them answers.'

Wu's family have been searching for him everyday.

'We are feeling a little desperate,' Lucas Wu, the brother of Wu, said.

'In the first 10 days we went out everywhere to search for him … right now, we feel desperate and helpless.'

Wu and his siblings were sent to New Zealand by their father to study in 2012. They all lived together while he attended Mount Albert Grammar.

He stayed in New Zealand to study computer science at Auckland University, while his brother went back home to live with his parents just south of Guangzhou, China.

Lucas Wu said his brother was happy and funny.

'He loved New Zealand very much.'

Wu sent his last message to the family on March 8, a message which was just a 'normal chat'.

Lucas Wu said his brother could be emotionally unstable sometimes, but wasn't the type to harm himself.

Anyone with information wasurged to contact Sergeant Tania Kingi on 0211910895. If you would like to speak to someone in Mandarin, contact Justin Zeng on 0211910463.

Information could also be provided anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111