At 15.17hrs this afternoon, our Team Leader, Garry Rhodes MBE, was contacted directly by a GMP Missing Person Search Manager, regards possible assistance from the team in connection with the developing search for a missing 60 year old Bolton woman.

Initially our specialist Mountain Rescue Trailing Search Dog was requested, along with placing the team on standby to assist should the search develop.

Our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE and Trailing Search Dog Handler Steve Nelson (Also a member of SARDA Wales) further liaised with the GMP Missing Person Search Manager, and at 16.26hrs the full team was paged to go to ‘Standby status.’

The woman was missing from her home address on Wigan Road in the Deane area of Bolton, where she had last been seen at around 05.00hrs on the morning of Monday 29th April.

GMP Police search operations in the immediate area of her home address, including the Haslam Park area, were undertaken throughout the afternoon of today, and at 17.24hrs today GMP paged the team for a full search call out.

Team members assembled at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ, departing at 18.30hrs for the Search RVP, which was set up on Junction Road, Deane, Bolton, immediately adjacent to St Mary’s Church, Deane.

In total thirty one Team call Out list members responded, including Steve Nelson and his Mountain Rescue Trailing search Dog Boris.

Our vehicles involved included three of our Land Rover Mountain Rescue Ambulances (Our fourth being away currently having an electrical issue resolved) our Minibus and our Incident Control Vehicle.

Our part in searching commenced at 19.24hrs, with a search of Deane Church Clough, with the search co-ordinated from our Incident Control Vehicle.

Other search areas included the Church and Graveyard of St Mary’s Church, Deane, the valley of Middle Brook, and the outlying areas of Haslam Park.

By 20.55hrs, all our designated search areas had been completed, including the ‘trails’ completed by Steve and Boris in the Gilnow and Willows areas.

Our last vehicles left the Search RVP at circa 21.45hrs.

GMP enquiries are continuing as to the whereabouts of the missing 60 years old woman, alongside continuing press and social media appeals.