On Monday 24 Sep 2018, BBC1 ran a programme covering the disappearance of 40 year-old Michael Price. This gave a great deal of insight into missing person search procedures in the UK, and puts the search for Madeleine McCann into context.
The programme is currently on the BBC iPlayer at https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0blqjw0/reported-missing-series-2-episode-4
This is restricted to UK viewers only, which I can’t access, so be warned that my write-up is from memory.
Michael’s partner, Claire, woke up on Easter Saturday, 2017, at her home in Northwich, Chesire, to find he had not returned there overnight. Claire called Michael’s mum, who had not seen her son. So Claire phoned the police to report him missing.
Michael had 4 children he loved, and got on well with his mum and Claire. However, he was under treatment for alcoholism, and he thought he was being pursued by 2 locals.
The description of his clothes was sparse – jeans and a green parka.
Cheshire police managed to pick up bits and pieces. Michael had picked up his prescription medicine, and then was seen on CCTV in a post office, where it looked as if he might have had a drink.
His trail led to an area beside the River Dane, known for drug dealing. Michael had been spotted looking unsteady on his feet and dropping drugs.
Detailed searches were carried out on the route between Claire’s home and Michael’s mum, and those places where he had been sighted. Michael’s prescription medicine was found in 2 places near the River Dane. There was no sign of Michael despite extensive searches, including the use of a helicopter with heat-seeking equipment.
The police were able to rule out the two suspect locals.
The operation followed up on reported sightings of Michael, to no avail.
As time went by, the search operation was effectively called off.
His family became aware that people thought Michael had been found, so they around town taping up missing posters, to make it clear he had not been sighted.
About a year after Michael disappeared, Cheshire police looked at the case again and decided to have another attempt at finding him. This time they brought in a specialist search coordinator. Unfortunately, I can’t remember his name, so I am going to refer to him as the SSC.
The SSC drafted in two cadaver dogs. These alerted twice, but both times it was to animal remains.
The river was mapped and an anomaly was found. When it was checked out by divers, it was found to be a concrete slab.
The SSC examined the possibility that a body entering the River Dane could have been washed into a larger river it joins, the River Weaver.
Nearing the end of the second operation, with avenues nearly exhausted, the toe of a trainer was spotted near a brook in woodland in Leftwich.
This turned out to be the body of Michael Price. There was no foul play involved. It seemed Michael had slipped down an embankment and died at the bottom.
Shining In Luz 