By Dunja Karagic,Esse Deves
Copyright abc
Police say harsh conditions are making the search for a man missing in far north Western Australia “very difficult”.
Mark Sear, 62, was last seen driving a white tray-top truck near Moola Bulla Station, 80 kilometres north of Halls Creek in the Kimberley on September 19.
The vehicle was found bogged in a dry riverbed near the Great Northern Highway at Sandy Creek six days after he was last seen.
Kimberley Superintendent John Hutchison said the truck contained an esky with refreshments inside.
“We’re not really sure what he had in his possession when he walked away from the vehicle,” he said.
Superintendent Hutchison said searchers had identified a “number of footprints” in the area but were unable to confirm whether they were Mr Sear’s.
Superintendent Hutchison said the aerial and ground search had covered an area of more than 600 square kilometres around the vehicle.
Specialist trackers from Perth’s Tactical Response Group (TRG) arrived in Broome on Friday to assist local police, State Emergency Services volunteers and local Indigenous rangers with the search.
Superintendent Hutchison said searching was difficult due to high temperatures in the region, which surpassed 38.5 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
“We don’t want the rescuers to become the rescuee, so there are fatigue issues and general health while they’re out in those conditions,” he said.
Superintendent Hutchison said there were grave concerns for Mr Sear’s welfare due to the conditions and lack of shade in the area.
Search continues
On Sunday Police Minister Reece Whitby said significant resources had been deployed to the region.
“I know that police are throwing everything they can in the search for Mr Sear,” he said.
“We’ll continue to try to do everything we can to find Mr Sear.”
Superintendent Hutchison said the search effort would not be scaled back until all reasonable search locations and avenues had been explored.
“At this stage our hopes are dwindling, however we haven’t given up and we don’t intend to give up until we’ve tried every angle that we can think of,” he said.
Superintendent Hutchison said the continuation of air searching was affected by factors such as the availability of aircraft, pilot hours and fatigue.
Police alerted the public to Mr Sear’s disappearance via a social media post on September 24, five days after he was last seen.
Halls Creek Senior Sergeant Lindsay Garratt told the ABC that Mr Sear was known to go out by himself for a “couple of days” but being away this long was a concern.
“It is unusual for him and his family are concerned,” he said.
Superintendent Hutchison said the matter was being treated as a missing person case with “no information at all suggesting anything suspicious”.
“We appeal to anyone that’s got any information to come forward to Crime Stoppers,” he said.
“If anyone saw a male person on the highway out in that remote area, hitchhiking or for any other reason, please let us know.
“It may just be the little piece of the jigsaw puzzle that we need to help in us locating Mr Sear.”
