Nine days after the search began for missing Briton, Richard Chapelow, the underwater operation has been suspended.
The 29-year-old holidaymaker, staying as a guest of the British billionaire, Jon Hunt, at Mount Albricoque in the parish of Santana da Serra, Ourique, disappeared under the water of the Santa Clara dam on Wednesday, 20th of August.
The decision was taken by the operational commander after 1,100 hours of searches revealed no clue as to where on the floor of the huge body of water Chapelow’s body is lying.
Last Sunday, the GNR and firefighters reconstructed the accident, but with no resulting find.
Specialist divers have been searching day after day after Chapelow's disappearance at 16:54 p.m. on 20 August when 10 people, all British, were involved in the boating accident.
Six people were riding in a speedboat that was towing four of their friends on a banana-type inflatable. For reasons still unknown, the banana boat flipped over and the four riders were thrown into the water. Three managed to swim to the speedboat but the fourth, Richard Chapelow, never surfaced.
Richard Chapelow was a friend of Jon Hunt’s son, Harry, and although Chapelow’s case officially is being treated as a disappearance, the GNR is to send a report to the Ourique Public Prosecutor's Office with a view to altering this status.
A statement was issued on behalf of Jon Hunt and his family, expressing their devastation at Richard Chapelow's loss, stating that, "all thoughts and prayers are with his family," and that they would, "work closely with the authorities to find out what happened."
_________
Note: A body in the water starts to sink as soon as the air in its lungs is replaced with water. Once submerged, the body stays underwater until the bacteria in the gut and chest cavity produce enough gas - methane, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide - to float it to the surface. The buildup of gases can take days or weeks, depending on factors including water temperature.
