While fears are held for the safety of a missing 15 year old Tonga College student, Timote Kata, from Houma, who failed to return from a fishing trip at Te'ekiu on Monday evening, police remain hopeful of finding him alive as a search enters its second day.

Police teams resumed the search at 6:00am today on land in the mangroves area and at sea along the coast between Te'ekiu and Ha'atafu for Timote In-Peace-With-Love Kata.

"We are hopeful, but we will review the seach this afternoon," Deputy Police Commissioner Taniela Faletau said this morning. "One team is a boat and other teams are searching the mangroves along the shore. They started at low tide so they can penetrate the mangroves. It is a very wide area and difficult because of the mangroves. There are a few channels there and a strong current sweeps westward, and it's not the first time that people have been in trouble there," he said.

A 44 year old teacher from Tonga College Mele'ana Kauvaka, who was also reported missing at 1:00am on Tuesday, was found at 7:00am at  'Ahau.  She was admitted to Vaiola Hospital's intensive care unit where she was treated for exposure and exhaustion.

Police said that the teacher from Tonga College, her husband and three other students went fishing for sea slugs on the Hihifo sand flats on Monday, and were returning at about 5:00pm. But they got caught out on the reef in the dark and lost their way.

"The wife was slow walking back in the low tide and one of the boys went back to assist her," the police stated. The other three reached the shore but lost sight of the Mele'ana and Timote.

Dep. Police Cmdr Faletau said that he believed that the three who reached the shore landed in a different area from where they started and when they reached their vehicle they tried turning on the lights but it seemed that the others were faraway. He understood that they had started doing their own search and the two missing persons were not reported to the central police command until 1:00am on Tuesday.

He said that the teacher who was interviewed by police in hospital said that she became separated from Timote when trying to come back after going westward.

Dep. Police Cmdr Faletau said that Chatham Airlines had assisted in the search yesterday afternoon by diverting one of their flights, and the Tonga Defence Services has assisted with a boat and a civilian diver from the western districts had volunteered and was assisting in the search.