By Megan Levy
Two bodies have been discovered in the search for a father and his four-year-old daughter who have been missing for more than two weeks on the NSW north coast.
Police and State Emergency Service volunteers had been scouring sand dunes north of Pottsville on Tuesday morning for Greg Hutchings, 35, and his daughter Eeva Dorendahl-Hutchings, who vanished on January 11.
A NSW Police spokesman said that an SES volunteer found two bodies in dense bushland near the Pottsville sand hills just before 10am.
A crime scene has been established and forensic officers are examining the scene.
Missing: Greg Hutchings, 35, and his daughter Eeva, 4.
Police said the bodies were yet to be formally identified.
Detective Superintendent Stuart Wilkins told reporters at Pottsville that the bodies were found by an SES volunteer "secreted under a tree".
"It is quite obvious they have been deceased for a considerable period of time," he said.
"We are unable at this time to identify those bodies but it is certainly possible that they are our missing persons."
He said a report would be prepared for the coroner who would determine the cause of death.
He said Tuesday's search was conducted following fresh information.
He said the mother of Eeva and the mother of Mr Hutchings had been contacted.
"They are significantly upset and distraught as you can imagine and our heartfelt thoughts are with them today," he said.
There had been no confirmed sightings of Mr Hutchings or his daughter since they failed to turn up to an arranged meeting at a park in Pottsville, just north of Byron Bay, on January 11.
Mr Hutchings was due to hand Eeva back to her mother, Michelle Dorendahl, after a two-week holiday about midday on that day.
The father and daughter were last seen on Pottsville Road about 12.30pm on that day, but they failed to turn up to the arranged meeting, police said.
Mr Hutchings' family said he feared that his ex-partner may have been about to relocate to Finland with the girl.
Police set up Strike Force Beadle to investigate the disappearance, and said they held grave concerns for the pair's welfare.
On Tuesday, police and State Emergency Service volunteers searched two areas: along sand dunes north of Mooball Creek; and north of the Pottsville township along sand dunes towards Hastings Point.
Police said those were areas that Mr Hutchings was known to visit.
Previously, extensive searches by air, land and sea have been carried out in Pottsville, nearby Mullumbimby and the Blue Mountains, where Mr Hutchings previously lived.
Mr Hutchings' bank account had not been accessed since he and his daughter disappeared.
Mr Hutchings' mother, Diana, told Fairfax Media previously that her family was not hiding the pair and their disappearance was a mystery.
She said police had searched her home, seizing computers and other items.
"Police were saying someone in the family had to be helping him out, hiding him," Ms Hutchings said, but said that was not the case.
"There's absolutely no trace.
"Someone has got to have taken him out of the area, but how or why he's gone I don't know. He doesn't know anyone from around here."
Mr Hutchings is about 175 centimetres tall, with short brown curly hair and a thin build. He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeved shirt, grey trousers and carrying a green shoulder bag.
Eeva has long blonde hair, blue eyes and has a thin build.
She was last seen wearing an oversized blue and white shirt and multi-coloured board shorts.
- with AAP