Coastguard Rescue team assist police with missing person search

The Ardrossan Coastguard Rescue Team was called out this afternoon to assist Ayrshire Police Division with an ongoing missing person enquiry.

The team was requested to conduct a shoreline search between Ardrossan Harbour and Saltcoats harbour, following information from the public about a possible sighting of the missing person over the course of the weekend.

The team responded immediately, and following a full operational briefing, deployed to conduct the search which lasted approximately three hours.

On completion of the search and with nothing found, the team has then stood down and returned to station with a full update being conveyed to the Officer in Charge of the enquiry via the Coastguard Operations Centre in Belfast.

Coastguard Rescue Teams are specially trained in land search and have specialist knowledge and equipment to undertake search operations at the coast.

Anthony Lowey (51) was last seen by a family member on Wednesday 27 December 2017, when he was dropped off at his home in Hunter Avenue, Ardrossan, around 1500 hours.

He is described as white, around 5 ft 8 in height, with short brown hair and a slim build. He has a goatee beard and tattoos on his lower arms which say 'mum and dad' and 'Marianne'. When last seen he was wearing a navy blue fleece with a cream coloured jacket over the top, although he may have changed clothes by now.

Inspector Colin Convery, local area Inspector for Ayrshire Police Division, said: "Since Anthony was reported missing to us on Friday 29 December 2017, we have carried out significant enquiries in the area to trace him, however, despite several people coming forward to say they believe they have seen him locally, we have not managed to trace him yet.

"We just want Anthony to come home and be with his family, who are as you can imagine, very upset and worried about him. He is in absolutely no trouble at all, we just want him home safe.

"He tends not to travel far and is well-known in the community. He doesn't appear to have many friends outside the Ardrossan area, so we believe he is still in the general vicinity. One line of enquiry is that he may be staying with someone locally but that has not been confirmed.

"If you have seen him, know where he is, or have any information that will help us find him, them please get in touch with officers at Irvine Police Station via 101, quoting incident number 0936 of 29 December 2017."