Heartbroken family of hiker missing in the Snowy Mountains for almost 10 days vent their frustration with the police search

The frustrated family of a hiker who went missing more than a week ago have said they are angry that no resources are being mobilized for his rescue operation.

Hadi Nazari, 24, disappeared after separating from his friends to take photos in the Snowy Mountains, NSW, on December 26.

The two friends he was walking with alerted authorities after Mr Nazari failed to return from his detour near the Hannels Spur Trail near Geehi at nightfall.

They had left four days earlier for the Kosciuszko National Park hike and the outing would only last five days.

Now Mr Nazari’s family in Melbourne, where he is from, have called on police to do more in a bid to find him.

His sister, Zahra Nazari, said she was particularly frustrated that Victorian authorities had not been called in to assist with the operation on Friday.

Despite being missing in NSW, Mr Nazari was last seen at a remote railway area about 21km from the Victorian border.

Riverina Police District Acting Chief Inspector Jill Gibson said more than 250 people were already involved in the rescue effort being led by NSW Police.

Ms Nazari said her family was “begging” police to commit more resources to the search, given the large area they are searching to find her brother.

“Police say they have the resources they need [but] Given how large the search area is, it wouldn’t be wise to get more people there,” she said told the ABC.

‘Today is the ninth day [of the search]. We want more people, we want more resources. We are just advocating and calling on the NSW Police to put that into action.”

Ms Nazari said her family’s hopes of finding her brother are dwindling every day the search continues.

“I don’t want to lose him, I just want him to live, I want him to be found,” she said.

Chief Inspector Gibson said in a statement she had “some of the most experienced searchers” in NSW involved in the rescue.

‘We have involved some of the most experienced searchers in the state including Police Rescue Unit LANDSAR operators, State Emergency Services bush search and rescue operators and Volunteer Rescue Association Rescue Bush search and rescue operators and National Parks and Wildlife Service rangers,” she said.

“In addition, we had aircraft from various agencies during the eight-day period.”

The search will continue throughout the weekend as rescue teams are taken into difficult terrain to search deeper into the nature reserve.

“This remains an active search and rescue operation and we are not giving up hope of finding him alive,” Chief Inspector Gibson confirmed.

“Our search crews are focusing on the creek lines and water sources where we believe Hadi may be.”

Mr Nazari turned 24 on New Year’s Eve when he became lost in the Snowy Mountains.

Walking sticks and rubbish believed to have been left by him in dense bushland near the Kosciuszko River, about 42 km from Geehi by rail, were found by teams on the same day.

Following the discovery, Chief Inspector Matthew Price of the State Emergency Service said the river area had become his new focus of the search.

“We look at the topography of the area and there has been a lot of research into the behavior of lost people, and what different people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences do when they are lost,” Mr Price said.

“The NSW Police use that science and experience to coordinate the search tactics that our guys implement for them on the ground.”

Mr Nazari, an experienced bushwalker, was last seen by friends at around 2.30pm on Boxing Day, making a difficult descent along what is known as the Hannels Spur route in Kosciuszko National Park.

Search and rescue specialist Paul Luckin, who assisted police in the search, said that of the 105 searches he had taken part in over the past year, only three people had been found alive after long periods alone in the wilderness.

“There aren’t many who go missing for long periods of time and come out alive,” he told AAP.

“Ultimately, his survival will depend on finding drinkable water and probably staying near that water.”

Dr. Luckin said water availability was scarce in the area where Mr Nazari went missing.

‘Whether you can find water or not depends on the terrain and how thick the vegetation is. It is well known that the vegetation in that particular area is very dense, very dense vegetation,” he said.

“There is some water (there), but access to it is difficult.”

The Hannels Spur route is considered one of Australia’s most challenging bushwalk routes, with an elevation gain of 1800 metres.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted New South Wales and Victorian police for comment.