Incident 63/2004

At 10:05, GMP contacted the Team for assistance with the continuing large police search, concentrated on the River Bollin, Dunham Massey, for a missing 15 year old male youth, who had been swept away by the strong river current at approximately 16:00 the previous afternoon. 34 Team members responded, including 4 team white water kayakers, and were specifically tasked with the search of the River Bollin bankings between Dunham Massey Deer Park and the Manchester Ship Canal.

Bolton MRT members getting kitted up for the riverside search.

BMRT members being briefed for the next phase, by this time the weather was torrential rain.

Adjacent fields were comprehensively searched by our search dog Chi and handler Dave Marsh, 6 police dog teams, 2 mounted police units, and officers from the GMP TAU. GMP’s Air Support Unit helicopter added to the search effort, along with wading searches by the Police Joint Underwater Search Unit. The search took place at times in atrocious torrential rainstorms, with the river in full spate. Despite the best efforts of all concerned, the youth could not be located, and for safety reasons, the riverside search was stood down when it became dark, for continuation early morning the next day.

A now familiar site at incidents, Bolton MRT Team Leader Garry Rhodes, being interviewed by the BBC.

This article appeared on the BBC News Online following this incident.