At 15.14hrs this afternoon, we were contacted via Sarcall / pager, by Greater Manchester Police, to assist with a developing search operation for a missing 76 years old woman in the Stretford area of Manchester.
Team members already present at GMFRS Community Fire Station Open Day, quickly relocated to our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ, to collect other responding team members and further equipment.
The woman had been missing since the previous day – Friday 28th November, in circumstances giving GMP considerable concern for her welfare, given her age and the time of year.
Team members were tasked alongside GMP Officers with specific search areas in and around the River Mersey, Ousel Brook and Kickety Brook areas of Stretford, alongside the M60 Motorway.
Also involved was a GMFRS USAR Search Dog, in a search operation that commenced at circa 17.30hrs and finished around 21.05hrs.
This search marked the first operational deployment of our newly graded Drowned Victim Search Dog Sasha, under the guidance of her Handler Dave Marsh, a UK Mountain Rescue search operation first first we believe, regarding the deployment of a DVSD Dog.
The conclusion of the search operation in this area, saw Police enquiries continuing to try and locate the missing woman.
We would like to extend our thanks to Kiwi Nurseries, of Bradley Lane, Stretford, Manchester, who kindly allowed their premises and customer car park to be used as the search RVP for this operation.
The following resources were deployed during this search incident;
- Greater Manchester Police; Two Missing Person Search Managers, Tactical Aid Unit and Divisional Officers.
- Bolton Mountain Rescue Team; Three Land Rover Defender Mountain Rescue Ambulances, Ford Transit crewbus / Ambulance, VW Crafter Incident Control vehicle, Team SAR Boat, 19x Call Out list members, and one probationary member.
- SARDA Ireland North; DVSD Dog Handler Dave Marsh (Also include din Bolton MRT figure) and DVSD Dog Sasha.
- GMFRS USAR Dog Handler Mick Dewar and USAR Search Dog Ace.
