AN underwater search for the body of a missing Golcar man has ended without any trace of Steven Cooper being uncovered.

Former TA soldier Steven, 47, disappeared in 2008 and his car found near to a Scottish loch, which police and divers have been searching this week.

Yesterday afternoon the underwater loch search was complete with no evidence found of Mr Cooper’s whereabouts.

His mother Margaret and brother Christian made the agonising decision to travel to Loch Laggan on Monday after West Yorkshire Police agreed to undertake the search. A specialist search company Liquavision is also searching a wider area of the loch.

However after the second day his family are no closer to bringing Steven home to rest.

Steven’s sister Trish Cooper said: “He’s not in the loch. My brother is not there. I feel numb by it all. The police will search the shore line of the loch today for peace of mind and any other clues but he’s not in the loch.”

She said the family had questions about why his car was there and what happened to him which remain unanswered.

Loch Laggan is in the Scottish Highlands, north-east of Fort William.

At the time of Mr Cooper’s disappearance, Northern Constabulary, local mountain rescue, the RAF and other agencies carried out an extensive search of the area around the loch lasting a number of days.

This search was conducted using specialist equipment and technology by highly trained officers familiar with the area.

Loch Laggan was not completely searched due to it being 12 miles long and one-mile wide and after advice that it would take a team of divers an enormous amount of time to search thoroughly.

Sister Trish Cooper, who lives in New Mill, added: “I don’t know how my mother and brother have been able to stand and watch.

“It must be an emotional rollercoaster to stand at the loch side for hours on end.”