PALMA
IT is now two months since British resort rep. Jacqueline Tennant went missing in Majorca but her family has not given up hope of finding her.
Jacqueline Tennant, 45, of Reading, Berkshire, was working for First Choice at Holiday Village Viva in C'an Picafort, in the north east of Majorca, and has not been seen since trekking in mountains on her day off on 8 October.
Her sister Monique has been based in Majorca for much of the past two months heading the search which has been carried out by the Guardia Civil mountain rescue team, Civil Protection, local volunteers and a specialist search team from Global Rescue in Wales and yesterday she said they are still waiting clearance from Microsoft to access Jacqueline's e-mails.
The family hope that by checking her e-mails they will be able to confirm whether she returned from her walk on October 8 or not. If we discover she sent an a-mail later on the day she disappeared, then the search will take on a new concept, if not, then I guess we're going to have to finish searching the area of Escorca where her mobile phone signal was traced, Monique told the Bulletin yesterday.
The biggest hurdle in the hunt for the fit and healthy member of the woman's Air Force auxiliary is that Jacqueline did not tell anyone where she was going hiking on her day off.
All that is known is that she received a call from her boss a 12.45pm. That call has since been traced to Escorca, a vast area of the Sierra de Tramuntana mountain range which stretches from Pollensa to Lluc.
However, between the Guardia Civil, the family and Global rescue, a sizable part of the search area has been covered but it would appear the hunt has come to a halt again while further, more exact information is sought.
Monique said that a number of people who have seen reports of the search on BBC news have contacted the TV company claiming that they had spoken to Jacqueline shortly before she went missing. Monique was contacting them yesterday to discuss what was talked about and if her sister gave away any information as to her hiking plans.
Two months down the road and the police are having to scale down their operations, there are a number of other searches on-going and hikers are constantly running in to trouble in the mountains at this time of year. They are however keeping an eye open and are at the family's full disposal should any new information come to light.
Monique, however, is not giving up hope. It's been an emotional past couple of weeks. Christmas is here and it's a family time of year but our sister is still missing, she said. We have an even larger Global Rescue team on stand-by in the UK along with a number of volunteers, her nephew is ready to fly to Majorca from Jamaica to help, but we need that final piece of information. If we can confirm that she did not return from her hike in Escorca then we will launch one final blitz of the area which remains to be searched in the New Year. The Guardia Civil and Global rescue have mapped out all the areas which have been searched and what is left is where my sister must be, Monique said. I'm not giving up hope, she's my sister and the whole family wants the hunt to continue and the case to remain open, she added. I'm still hopeful, I don't know what state, condition or situation we will find her in, but we will find her. In the mean time, the Guardia Civil are asking walkers in the area to keep their eyes open.