The sister of missing 31-year-old Briton Rem Kingston, who was thought to have fallen overboard while sailing from Valencia to Palma via Ibiza on the Balearia ferry Hypatia de Alejandria in the early hours of Friday morning, yesterday contacted the Bulletin to make a plea to the general public to help find her brother.
After three days of intensive searches of the stretch of sea between Ibiza and Palma, the air sea rescue teams have called off the maritime operation. now The National Police, Guardia Civil and local police forces in Majorca, Ibiza and Valencia are now searching for Rem on land. Interpol have also been alerted.
Sister Megan, who has flown to Majorca and had meetings with staff at the British Consulate and the various police forces, explained that Rem and their mother had flown to Malaga to collect a car which they were delivering to their holiday home here in Majorca.
The last that was seen of Rem was at 5am on Friday morning when he left the cabin he was sharing with his mother. It was she who raised the alert shortly before docking in Palma. Megan said that police searched the ferry but that there was no sign of Rem. Claims that he was caught on CCTV onboard the ferry at 5am have been refuted because staff aren’t obligated to record images if they view them live.
With the search now being carried out on land, Megan is calling on the public for help. "Rem has mental health issues. He suffers from paranoia and sometimes gets scared of people. There is a possibility that he hid himself somewhere on the ferry and returned to Valencia, stopped and disembarked at the port of Ibiza or that he did come ashore here in Palma and is on the island.
"It has not been ruled out 100 per cent that he did not disembark here in Palma; it’s just that my mother had lost sight of him. All the security forces and the Consulate staff have been really helpful and are doing all they can. Should anyone spot Rem, please call the police straight away.
"If approaching, please do so calmly as he is fearful and not trusting of people in his current mental state."
The air sea rescue combed an area of some 40 square nautical miles and all vessels were ordered to stay out of the search zone. The pilot of a French air force plane which happened to be in the area offered support. No traces of Rem were found. Photographs of Rem have been distributed to police forces across Majorca, Ibiza and Valencia.