UPDATED: Up to 50 members of the public searched for miles around Sandown last night (Wednesday) in a bid to locate missing Michael Davies, who hasn’t been seen in over 2 weeks.
Crowds rendezvoused at Fort Street car park in Sandown and received a briefing by Police, who issued some safety advice and suggested areas that could be searched safely, although the search had not been officially organised by Hampshire Constabulary.
Among the areas to be searched was the Newport to Sandown cycle path, where an unconfirmed sighting of Michael was reported to Police just two days after he went missing, a fact yet to be mentioned by Police. A Sandown resident explained at the meet how she spotted who she believes to be Michael on the cycle path heading back towards Sandown on the afternoon of Wednesday 27th May, but despite phoning Police on Thursday after seeing the media appeal, she did not receive a call back until Monday morning when it was confirmed the area had not been searched at that point.
In the sunny and warm conditions, the searchers last night split into groups covering vast areas, with two groups walking over 7 miles between Golf Links Road and Morton Common through woodland. Areas of the Sandown cycle path were also covered and around the Dinosaur Isle vicinity.
Unfortunately, the search did not produce any new results with no clothing, items or evidence located.
It is understood Police intend to conduct a further search today ahead of the arrival of Michael’s family on the Island tomorrow (Friday), although a location for this was not disclosed.
It is now believed Michael suffers with dementia, a fact that has not been mentioned by Police in their media appeals.
UPDATE @ 13:23 – In a statement issued this afternoon, Mr Davies family have thanked the public for their efforts:
“We would like to say thank you very much to everyone who helped with the search for Mike in Sandown on Wednesday evening.
“We only wish we could be over there to help them. It is difficult for us to come back over to the Isle of Wight from Wales at the moment.“The whole family remains in limbo right now. Every day is a struggle as we feel unable to face things and move on.“Any factual information about Mike is gratefully received. Please contact the police and help us find Mike.”
