POLICE have expressed growing concerns regarding the disappearance of missing British-Australian man Gary Tweddle as search efforts in the Blue Mountains enter their third day.
Mr Tweddle, 23, was last seen in the early hours of Tuesday morning after leaving the Fairmont Resort in Leura, a suburb of the Blue Mountains 109 kilometres west of Sydney. He had been staying at the resort for a work conference, and colleagues describe him as having been in good spirits in the hours leading up to his disappearance.
The British-Australian, who grew up in Berkshire before moving to the Gold Coast as a teenager, spoke with friends around midnight and told them that he was lost in bushland near a main road. Mr Tweddle was unable to be reached by telephone after this call, with police believing that he either lost service or his mobile phone battery died.
The search effort, coordinated by police from the Blue Mountains Local Area Command, has now entered its third day in the dense bushland around Fairmont Resort. Today’s search involved around 75 officers from local police, police rescue, the Rural Fire Service and the State Emergency Service.
Police wish to speak to anyone that may have seen Mr Tweddle in the early hours of Tuesday morning in hopes of narrowing down the search area and improve chances of finding the missing man. Police operations are currently based from a command post that has been established in the golf clubhouse of Fairmont Resort.
Friends and family of Mr Tweddle have registered their support for the popular Sydney-sider via social media, with a myriad of messages expressing their belief that he will show up safe and unharmed within the next few days. Close friends of Mr Tweddle say that he is a physically capable individual that should be able to handle himself despite the harsh environment that he is presumed to have gone missing in.
Mr Tweddle is described as being of Caucasian appearance, medium build and is around 165-170cm tall. He has brown hair and brown eyes, and was wearing a black jacket and checked shirt at the time of his disappearance.
Anyone with information regarding Mr Tweddle’s whereabouts should contact Blue Mountains Local Area Command on +612 4782 8199.
