Incident report

A major search was launched in the Goyt Valley when Cheshire Police discovered the car of a man whose welfare they had cause to be concerned about.

The missing man, Kevin Bird, 51, was reported missing from home in Poynton earlier in the day.   A police helicopter was tasked to search the area around Errwood and Fernilee reservoirs and police officers from both Cheshire and Derbyshire Constabularies started a search in the immediate vicinity around Errwood Hall.

Buxton Mountain Rescue Team, which was fundraising in Castleton at the time, was called out at 1.00 pm and provided thirty volunteers and four search dogs to comb nearby footpaths.  Specially trained team members were able to search the water’s edge and the rescue boat from Errwood Sailing Club was of great assistance.  A specialist police water search team was also deployed.  The search continued into the late evening darkness in freezing conditions and low cloud.

The following day the search resumed at dawn and involved eighty volunteers from Buxton, Kinder and Derby Mountain Rescue Teams.   Seven Mountain Search and Rescue dogs also joined the hunt, some travelling from the North East of England.  Police specialists on land and water searching were called in.  Heavy rain and the steep terrain of the Goyt Valley hampered the search with all the tributaries to the reservoirs being in flood conditions.

Regrettably, by darkness, no trace of Mr Bird had been found and the rescue teams stood down after a total of over 1,000 man-hours of searching.  Roger Bennett, Chairman of Buxton Mountain Rescue Team said, “We have put a great deal of effort into trying to solve this mystery and we feel sincerely sorry for the family that we have not been able to locate Mr Bird.”

Kevin Bird is described as 6’ 1” tall, of slim build and believed to wearing green cargo pants and a white t-shirt.  Anyone with any information is asked to contact the police on 101 or anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting Cheshire police incident number 429 of 8^th December.