An Instagram influencer couple who travel the world highlighting environmental issues are believed to have been detained in Iran.
Topher Richwhite, 34 – son of wealthy New Zealand banker David Richwhite – and his 27-year-old wife Bridget Thackwray reportedly entered Iran from Turkey in July.
They travel around the world to promote their Expedition Earth brand, which has 301,000 followers on Instagram.
Topher and Bridget have not been heard from since crossing the border in their branded Jeep, it is reported.
Their Instagram accounts have also not been active since late June, with some of their thousands of worried fans asking what has happened to them.
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, an Australian-British researcher who was imprisoned in Iran for more than two years over false espionage claims, said on Twitter that the couple is missing and thought to have been arrested in Iran.
The academic tweeted at 12:50am on Tuesday: "I can confirm that the two New Zealand travel bloggers, Topher Richwhite and his wife Bridget Thackwray of 'Expedition Earth,' are missing, believed arrested in Iran."
Her tweet included another tweet from a user called 'HafezeSayeha', who shared a still image from what appears to be an Instagram Story post of the couple entering Iran.
The user wrote in Farsi: "Two New Zealand citizens entered Iran on the way to travel the world, their last story in the highlight is this, and it is not known what happened for three months.
"Strangely, there is no word from the New Zealand government or their relatives there."
The Instagram story he refers to is still available to view on the couple's Instagram page, showing an Iranian number plate being attached to the jeep 15 weeks ago.
The final story shows an Iranian flag with the caption "Ready for Iran."
Moore-Gilbert then also tweeted: "The NZ media is aware of their disappearance and the NZ Foreign Ministry is applying pressure to both the media and their families not to go public with their plight."
And she also said: "Topher and Bridget crossed into Iran from Turkey in July and haven't been heard from since.
Their case is strongly reminiscent of the two Australian travel bloggers Jolie King and Mark Firkin [who were arrested and later released in Iran], and the French backpacker Benjamin Briere [arrested in Iran and later given an eight-year sentence], all travelling in campervans around Asia."
She added: "It's now been three months since Topher and Bridget went missing. Iran has arrested more than a dozen foreigners in the past 6 months alone. 'Quiet diplomacy' never works to the detainee's advantage in such cases."
Topher Richwhite's father is a Switzerland-based investment banker, who was listed as one of the richest men in New Zealand in the 1990s.
Iran has reportedly been cracking down on foreign tourists in the country, who it has increasingly been labelling as spies.
The New Zealand government has a history of keeping a closed book on cases such as these.
Louisa Akavi, a Kiwi Red Cross nurse, was kidnapped in Syria in October 2013 and subsequently taken hostage by Islamic State forces in May 2014.
Successive New Zealand administrations kept her case from going public and her captivity remained secret from NZ media and governments for five years until the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed her identity following the fall of the Islamic State's last stronghold in Syria.
Her fate is still unknown.
