Fears mount for Tauranga teen runaway 

A 14-year-old Mount Maunganui girl who is thought to have run off with a man in his forties, has still not turned up, and Tauranga police are making a direct plea to the adult to help reunite her with her family

Police are concerned for the welfare of Julie Davis, a student at Mount Maunganui College.

She was last seen in Topaz Drive at Papamoa last Friday, getting off a school bus.

Detective Constable Pete Sweeney says she's believed to be with 41-year-old Waikato man Craig Howard.

Police Howard was last seen on Wednesday at Miranda Hot Springs in the Coromandel, with a girl who fits Julie's description.

However, Sweeney says there is nothing to suggest she's been taken against her will. Nevertheless, her parents are now extremely concerned about her.

Detective Constable Sweeney says the pair are likely to be in the Coromandel, Waikato or Bay of Plenty areas, and are driving a 1989 grey Subaru, registration UE4661.

Detective Constable Pete Sweeney says the pair have known each other since March, but it is difficult to say what their relationship is.

He says Howard should know better than to keep the girl away from her family, even if she is willing to be with him.

He says the family have no idea why she has not come home, and that there was no previous history of Julie disappearing or running away.