Dad vanishes in terrible weather

Jan 21 2009 by Andrew Hirst, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Dad vanishes in terrible weather

Tony Burrie, from Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team, said: “We struggled to get people together at Holmfirth for a briefing as the conditions were so bad – and then they got worse.

“We searched likely places, but the weather was appalling. We were joined by four search and rescue dogs, but even they found it hard.”

Mike France, from Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team, said: “We were out from late afternoon and the weather in some areas was as bad as I can remember for some time.

“There were horrendous blizzards and it was bitingly cold.

“When we called off the search just before midnight we had to use our team Landrovers to drag out members’ cars stuck in the snow.”

The hunt went on all yesterday with a specialist police search adviser plotting out the search areas.

It starts with the most likely spot Mr Fay could be and then fans out. Snow remained on the ground all yesterday.

The search headquarters is based at Holmfirth police station.