Search for missing woman in River Dee at Chester

Apr 15 2008 by David Holmes, Chester Chronicle

A MASSIVE air and water search was under way this week after a witness reported seeing a woman looking like she might jump from a bridge into the River Dee.

Police received a call from a witness who was concerned for the welfare of the female who was spotted on the bridge on the A55 over the Dee near Eccleston about 6.45pm on Monday.

Emergency services sprang into action with Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service launching its boat and the police scrambled its plane. Both are equipped with thermal imaging cameras which can detect a person’s body heat.

Four fire crews were also dispatched to the A55 along with a specialist line rescue unit, an ambulance and police vehicles with a search made of the river banks involving a tracker dog.

There was no trace of the woman after more than two hours and search was abandoned as it got dark.