At around 5:30 p.m. call-handlers from Aberdyfi Search & Rescue Team were made aware of a 41 year old man, missing in the Dyfi forest following the Wales Rally GB stage earlier in the day.
The man, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was attending the rally with a group of friends. He was last seen by the other members of his party at 7:00 a.m. as they made their way to spectator viewing positions within the forest, and the plan was to meet-up back at the car at 1:00 p.m. When the man failed to make this rendezvous and could not be raised by phone, his friends started searching the woodland themselves, and ultimately the police were informed.
With very difficult weather conditions and darkness fallen, assistance was sought from the Aberdyfi Team. Rescue volunteers rendezvoused at Aberangell on the edge of the forest and, with air support ruled out by the bad weather, were confronted by a large search area with only scant and sometimes conflicting information about the missing man to work on. Having drawn up a list of potential scenarios to explain the man's disappearance, the Team started searching likely areas of the forest while Officers from North Wales Police followed up some of the other leads, and it was their work that ultimately led to the unraveling of this particular puzzle. Working on the possibility that the man had left the forest and gone home, Officers contacted local taxi firms to see if they had driven anyone fitting the man's description. With a few calls they found a local firm who had indeed given the man a ride....all the way to Wiltshire. At around 10:00 p.m., with checks made in Wiltshire to confirm that this was indeed the missing man, the search teams were pulled back from the forest and the Team was stood down.
The man, from Trowbridge in Wiltshire, was attending the rally with a group of friends. He was last seen by the other members of his party at 7:00 a.m. as they made their way to spectator viewing positions within the forest, and the plan was to meet-up back at the car at 1:00 p.m. When the man failed to make this rendezvous and could not be raised by phone, his friends started searching the woodland themselves, and ultimately the police were informed.
With very difficult weather conditions and darkness fallen, assistance was sought from the Aberdyfi Team. Rescue volunteers rendezvoused at Aberangell on the edge of the forest and, with air support ruled out by the bad weather, were confronted by a large search area with only scant and sometimes conflicting information about the missing man to work on. Having drawn up a list of potential scenarios to explain the man's disappearance, the Team started searching likely areas of the forest while Officers from North Wales Police followed up some of the other leads, and it was their work that ultimately led to the unraveling of this particular puzzle. Working on the possibility that the man had left the forest and gone home, Officers contacted local taxi firms to see if they had driven anyone fitting the man's description. With a few calls they found a local firm who had indeed given the man a ride....all the way to Wiltshire. At around 10:00 p.m., with checks made in Wiltshire to confirm that this was indeed the missing man, the search teams were pulled back from the forest and the Team was stood down.