Expert joins river search

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 1

Expert joins river search

A police diving expert, Sergeant Wayne Wilkey, has arrived in Christchurch to join the Waimakariri River search for the body of Louisa Damodran. Sergeant Wilkey of the Wellington wharf police, will assess the river today to determine if it has subsided sufficiently for divers to enter. The river has been running high since the search for the body of the child, aged six, started there last week-eiid. Two whitebaiters have told the police that they saw the body of a girl in the river a week ago, the same afternoon Louisa Damodran disappeared. Sergeant Sam Cleland, in charge of the search, said that the number of searchers would be reduced today. Up to 100 people have helped each day since the search started, but this would be reduced to 15 searchers, including police, soldiers, and civilians. Sergeant Cleland said that the search would concentrate today on the beaches near the Waimakariri rivermouth as well as the river. He said that he would decide today whether to continue to use Royal New Zealand Air Force Sioux helicopters and jet boats. The two helicopters again flew over the rivermouth in case. the body had been washed out to sea. The jet boats searched rivers, pools, and lagoons, said Sergeant Cleland. The drivers of the jet boats used a technique where they reversed up to the banks and revved the motor to flush out anything caught in submerged tree roots or under the bank. Sergeant Cleland said that most of the land close to the river had been searched extensively and while a number of items had been found none was related to the investigation. . “Everyone is disappointed that nothing has turned up, but it is futile carrying on there,” he said.

Sergeant Cleland said that he thanked the soldiers from Burnham Military Camp who had helped in the search for five days. “They have been marvellous,” he said.