Following initial conversations directly with our Team Leader, commencing mid-afternoon, this culminated in the team initially being put on standby and then called out to assist GMP in the search for a missing 61 year old man with the search area centred on the Rostherne Mere of North Cheshire.

In a search planned by GMP the team complemented earlier search operations that had been carried out by GMP and the local community, in trying to discover the whereabouts of the missing man.

Searching using 4 team members of the team’s Kayak unit, took place on Rostherne Mere itself and the River Bollin. Other members of the team were involved in searching specific areas of very dense woodland and the margins of Rostherne Mere (again, use was made of the team’s 1-to-1 issue of Lifejackets and water safety equipment). In all, 38 team members took part in the search operation, which also saw the team providing full control, catering, and transport facilities for all involved in the search.

Search Control RVP at Rotherne Village

In the latter stages of the search, once nearby air traffic at Manchester International Airport had scaled down, the team was joined by the GMP Air Support Unit helicopter. All search parties had completed their taskings by 23:30, and were then thoroughly debriefed.

All members had left the search RVP in Rostherne Village by 00:30 on the morning of Thursday 11th May, with members finally retiring to their beds by 01:30 in the morning.