Update: Q&A with detective heading the search for missing Adrian

Friday 11 December 2015

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull is the officer heading the operation to find missing Adrian Lynch.

In an interview with Bailiwick Express, he revealed what the police have learned so far, and how they intend to carry on as the efforts to find Adrian stretch beyond the seven-day mark.

Q – “What have you learned so far?”

A – “We have continued to secure suspected sightings or contacts with him between about 12 midnight when he was dropped off, and 2 am. We had initially 16 sightings, but we have discounted one, which we know cannot have been him. They are all in a fairly tight knit area in the north of St Lawrence and Carrefour Selous and north of there. We did secure yesterday – and we will be releasing details of this – CCTV footage. We cannot identify that it’s him but in all probability we think it probably is him, walking past business premises at 2.09 am, going north towards St John and then eight minutes later he comes back through – he has turned around and come back again.”

Q – “What do you think has happened?”

A – “All of that reinforces our hypothesis that he was disoriented, and probably in the early stages of hypothermia. The removal of clothing is often associated with the early stages of hypothermia. One or two witnesses described him as being just in a white shirt which would suggest that he has removed his jacket. We found his belt in addition to which, a member of the public had earlier found his wallet and phone. That reinforces our view that he was inebriated, he was disoriented and a minimum of 15 or 16 sightings or contacts is fairly significant in a fairly tight area, which reinforces our view that we have been searching in the right area, despite of course being very frustrated that we cannot find him. I think that he virtually walked into a house and was confronted by a member of the public, and was challenged, and he then realised that he was in the wrong place and quickly walked out of the house. Somebody else heard what we believe is him scratching on their door and another witness has decribed him shouting ‘Ella, Ella’, and we know that he knows someone of that name.”

Q – “You have said in the last few days that it’s unlikely that you’ll find him alive.”

A – “We do believe he has come to an unfortunate and untimely end. We have spoken to the taxi driver and taken a statement – we have traced 15 or 16 witnesses and taken statements from them which helps to piece together his last movements.”

Q – “What kind of work are you doing as the search approaches its seventh day?”

A – “There is some conventional investigative work going on in the background – house-to-house inquiries, reviewing CCTV footage and interviewing witnesses. That’s not just taking statements from witnesses, it has involved taking them back to St Lawrence, St Mary and St John just to be completely clear on where they were. We are having a good look at his phone and mobile data and talking to family and friends to see if there is anything there that is not known to us that may give an indication as to where he is.

Q – “What about the public efforts to join the search and help – is that helping or hindering?”

A – “Clearly, we understand the public and the community’s desire to want to seem to be actively involved. We have not actively encouraged it. We have had 50 to 80 professionals on the ground each day. Proper searching is very professional – we need to be organised and focussed and we have specialist officers to assess, and we go about it in designated zones based on points of last contact and sightings, potential lines of walking either to his home address or back to the Merton Hotel. He indicated to one witness that he was going to go back to the Merton, and that indicates some disorientation. We cannot discourage people from searching, but the best support that the local community can give is by clearing the ground from under our feet. It’s really important that residents, businesses and landowners check and double check that he is not in a garden, in a shed, in an outbuilding or in a ditch. That is the best support. Certainly, at night, we would not encourage searching. It is incredibly dark out there, you can’t see your hand in front of your face. The last thing that we want to be doing is searching for someone else who has gone astray or who has come to some harm.

Q – “What are your plans for the next few days?”

A - “We are working closely with the family, we are re-searching areas that we have already been through and putting fresh eyes through there to be sure. Special sonar equipment arrives late this afternoon to be deployed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to look at deeper and open water. There is some fairly deep water – ponds and reservoirs – so that is something that the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service cannot penetrate. Of course, if he is in there, we will hopefully find him. We continue the house-to-house work, we are undertaking an ‘anniversary road check’ this evening at Carrefour Selous, exactly seven days on, because it’s not inconceivable that we get the same people travelling through. Members of the public sometimes think that they do not want to trouble police with things that they have seen.”