Specialist advisors are being drafted in to assist in the search for missing Aberdeen sisters Henrietta and Eliza Huszti.
Addressing the media yesterday at the banks of the River Dee, Superintendent David Howieson said police “will do everything in their power” in the hunt for the 32-year-old Hungarian sisters.
And he has now expanded the search team with the addition of expert oceanographers and “search advisers”.
The operation is now into its eighth day.
A sub-zero storm blasted the north-east last week, coating the Granite City in snow and ice and making water search conditions “challenging.”
And as the city has thawed, increasing the height of the river water, search teams have been faced with a different set of challenges.
Yet divers and a police helicopter continue to probe the River Dee in hope of finding the sisters – part of a set of triplets.
The help of the specialist advisers has been requested in the hope they can help “interpret the movements” of the water.
‘We have got to be able to say we did everything we can’
“We have all the appropriate experts working to find them, including oceanographers and search advisors,” Superintendent Howieson said.
“They will try to interpret the movement of the water to try and recover anything relevant, in the event they or any of their possessions have entered the water.
“We are taking all of the best advice.
“Anyone who is living in and around this area knows that both rivers in and out of Aberdeen are pretty well up, due to the recent weather.
“That in itself brings a challenge.”
He confirmed the search along the river – recently expanded to Aberdeen’s South Harbour and upstream towards Duthie Park – will continue throughout this week.
“The search of the river is complex,” he said.
“For the duration of this week, you will see efforts continue.”
“We won’t stand down the search until we have a degree of confidence we have done everything in our power.
Superintendent Howieson continued: “We have to go back to Eliza and Henrietta’s family.
“We are in contact with them regularly and we need to say to them that we have done everything we can to find them.
“The energy will remain like that for us, as long as it needs to.”
Concerned landlord reported Huszti sisters missing
The search update come as The Press and Journal learned Henrietta and Eliza were reported missing only days after they handed in a tenancy notice for their Aberdeen flat.
They were last spotted on CCTV on Market Street, at the Victoria Bridge, at about 2.12am on Tuesday January 7.
The sisters’ landlord then phoned the police to report them missing.
They have since been questioned as a witness in the case.
It is understood the pair left their home in Aberdeen in the early hours of January 7.
They took “a direct route” to the river prior to their final sighting.
Once there, they crossed the bridge and turned right on to a path next to the River Dee, heading towards Aberdeen Boat Club.
Police maintain there are no suspicious circumstances as they continue to probe the disappearance.
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