|
A total of 923 man hours
spent on searches |
|
29 Dec. The team were called to New Waste. We
were assisting Ashburton and Tavistock. Two
walkers had become lost between Plym Ford and
the Redlake Tramway. The search was suspended
because of appalling weather conditions. Both
were found by helicopter at 0400 the following
morning. 19 members 190 man-hours |
|
16 Nov. The Team was called
to Budleigh Salterton in late to look for a
potential suicidal despondent. This was a woman
who had parked her car by the sea and who had,
in all probability, walked straight into it. We
joined Okehampton in doing a daylight search of
areas previously covered overnight by Ashburton.
Nothing was found in spite of an extensive
search inland well beyond our normal boundary.
10 members. 110 man-hours |
|
31 Oct. Another day time
callout to Barne Barton in Plymouth to look for
a 40 year old despondent, probably suicidal, who
had been reported missing on 28 Oct. A very
thorough search by team members, H.M.
Coastguard, Oscar 99, police tag team, MoD
Police and dogs turned up nothing. All the signs
pointed to the subject having taken his own life
probably on the evening of the 28 Oct. MoD
Police took a body out of Stonehouse Creek the
following Wednesday morning believed to be the
misper. 9 members. 54 man-hours |
|
18 Oct. The team was called
in the afternoon to Norsworthy Bridge to look
for a 77 year old man who had disappeared on the
16 Oct. It was thought that he might be at a
favourite spot in the Sheepstor area. He wasn’t.
On the 29 Oct the police called us with the news
of 4 possible sightings the last of which was
between the Dartmoor Inn and Holne. He remains
missing in spite of several alleged sightings
(update on Feb 2007: His body has since been
found in the Roborough Rock area). 2 members.
132 man-hours |
|
16 Oct. In the evening we
were called out this time to Staddon Heights
Golf Club, Plymstock to look for a despondent
male who had phoned his wife with the news that
he had taken some sleeping pills and drunk a
bottle of gin. The search was underway with lots
of very welcome input from members who knew the
area well. The search dogs were just about to
deploy when the police called with the news that
his mobile call had been traced to Fort Austin
mast so he wasn’t in our search area. He was
found the next morning having breakfast at
Jennycliffe Café! |
|
8 Oct. Search in the area
of Lutton. 12 members. 24 man-hours |
|
25 Sep. We were called out
to the Wembury area again. This time to look for
a man who had been ‘confronted’ by a bull and as
a result had gone off his planned walk from
Wembury church car park to Heybrook Bay via Down
Thomas. He was found in the morning by the
harbour master in an area well outside where we
had previously searched |
|
22 Sep. We were called to
Wembury Woods to look for a 52 year old male who
had not been seen since 9 Sep when he left his
accommodation in West Hoe. He had previously
tried to take his own life some 3 weeks
previously and is believed to have lived wild in
Wembury Woods for 2 days at about that time. The
search was called off when it got dark. We have
not heard anything about this one since. 24
members. 120 man-hours |
|
2 Jan. In the early hours we were tasked to
Norsworthy Bridge to look for a 78 year old male
who had gone missing between the lane end at
Norsworthy and Whiteworks. A police car was
tasked to stay with the mispers car in case he
appeared which eventually he did, having been
found by a passing motorist in the Yelverton
area. 15 members. 105 man-hours |
|
Earlier this year the body of Julie Crocker was
found in an area previously searched by us. The
police were very keen that we should not feel
guilty at not having found her and to stress
that the find poses more questions than it
answers |
