Police have widened their search for Whanganui woman Marice McGregor to the Manawatu after evidence her cellphone was switched on in the region a day after she vanished.

The family of a woman missing for 12 days say they are going through a "slow living nightmare" as police admit something untoward may have happened to her.

Police investigating the disappearance of a Whanganui woman 12 days ago are seriously concerned "something untoward" has happened to her and are appealing for sightings of a green van.

The family of a Wanganui woman who went missing in mysterious circumstances 11 days ago has asked the public for information.

Police name a soldier killed when his motorbike hit a car outside the Linton Military Camp today.

A fire that razed a Manawatu home overnight was "no accident" police say, amid reports a molotov cocktail sparked the blaze.

A horror seven days has seen 18 people die in 12 road accidents and has left police blaming speed and alcohol as a factor in many of them.

Guy Sainsbury came across a group of people who had seen a vehicle 80m down a bank, and decided to look around the area himself.

Police have charged a truck driver over the death of a cyclist who was hit by a truck only days after writing about aggressive Kiwi drivers.

Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws says signs advising travellers they were approaching "Whanganui" were erected in a "deliberate and provocative" act by NZ Land Transport.