Sea search for missing Chris Ellery after boat trip
A massive search is under way for a man who is believed to have gone missing while on a solo boat trip off the Pembrokeshire coast.
Police, coastguard and RNLI volunteers were alerted after Chris Ellery failed to return home from Fishguard as planned on Thursday afternoon.
His family lost contact on Wednesday and his daughter, Kenzie, has taken to social media to appeal for help in the search to find her father. “We are desperately trying to find him,” she said in a Facebook post.
HM Coastguard confirmed a search resumed on Saturday involving an aircraft, several RNLI boat crews, two coastguard teams and police around north Pembrokeshire, Cardigan Bay and St Brides Bay.
“He goes travelling on these solo trips regularly and is always very prepared for when situations go wrong,” said Kenzie.
“This is very out of character that we have not heard from him or been able to contact him.”
She said her father has an Apple AirTag that tracks a user’s movements and which “last shows him to be in the sea, so it is likely he would be seen in coastal areas rather than land”.
“We all need him to be home and we pray that he is safe,” she added.
Kenzie said his belongings had been found by police and coastguard at a cove accessed by boat.
Dyfed-Powys Police said CCTV footage showed the 54-year-old was last seen on Wednesday at 14:00 GMT leaving Fishguard Harbour in a black rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB).
The forced confirmed land and sea searches began on Friday after it received a call from Avon and Somerset Police.
The search was paused overnight and resumed on Saturday.
HM Coastguard confirmed its rescue aircraft was involved in the search, two of its crews from Fishguard and St Davids, along with several RNLI lifeboat crews from Fishguard, St Davids, Cardigan, Little Haven and Broad Haven and a police marine search team.
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