A lovestruck Wellington man has been spurned by a mystery American girl after sparking a global campaign to track her down.
Reese McKee, 25, met a young woman he knew only as Katie in Hong Kong on New Year's Eve in 2012.
He found her crying on the side of the road and cheered her up. The pair spent the rest of the night together before parting ways at 6am.
Her last words, "find me", before slipping into the dawn of a New Year's Day.
Although he never got a contact number or email address, Katie's final words stuck with Mr McKee.
He then started a Facebook campaign in the hope of tracking her down.
After being catapulted by the NZ Herald, the campaign went viral, attracting the attention of international media, and Katie was found.
Britain's Daily Mail tracked 20-year-old Katie Capp down to a small French town near the border of Italy where she was studying.
However after Katie deleted all of her social media profiles, Mr Mckee shied from the success of the campaign.
He took down the Facebook page he used to launch his appeal and didn't respond to offers to reunite the pair.
"I'm just looking to settle it down," he told APNZ.
"It was a hell of a lot of pressure, after the second day it sort of dawned on me that if I was going through this much, then there was going to be an incredible wave of pressure slammed into her."
Mr McKee then mustered the courage to get in touch with Katie, sending her a heartfelt email.
However the Daily Mail revealed her eventual reply was "lukewarm".
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm flattered, but not interested in any relationship or whatever," she said in her reply.
"It was a memorable night and I'd just like to leave it at that."
Mr McKee said he accepted her decision and just wanted to reconnect and stay in touch, adding: "I don't think I'll hear from her again".
- Brendan Manning of APNZ
