Not a good outcome.
The civilian helicopters that do this kind of searching in NZ have far better equipment than the military. Good DF equipment and Infra-Red cameras. ELT's are mandatory on all Powered Aircraft and Helicopters in NZ. From the age of this helicopter, it is most likely that a 406MHz ELT was fitted. Yet no Satellite signal was received, and none of the helicopters equipped with DF equipment picked up an ELT signal. I am sure they were doing their best to find these guys, these searches are not taken lightly.
Romeo Alfa, you should probably come and have a look at some of the terrain in New Zealand, maybe then you would understand why there are quite a few aircraft still missing in New Zealand. Very rough country in alot of places.
Thanks for the update Te Kahu, have been looking for info on the net to no avail.