Kayak couple investigation grinds to a halt

From the Lancashire Telegraph, first published Sunday 26th Aug 2007.

THE investigation into the disappearance of a couple who went kayaking off the coast of Jersey has ground to a halt.

Jersey's States police say that the pair, who used the names Andrew Keeble and Hannah Tye and claimed to live in Burnley, remain missing and there has been no news of them.

They have also had no reports of people missing with those names and have been unable to check any phone or banking records.

Enquiries at the address the couple provided in Healey Wood Road, Burnley, have also drawn a blank with the owner saying they had never heard of them.

The last time the two were seen they were believed to have been about to set to sea in an inflatable kayak from Rozel Bay on August 11.

A couple fitting their description were seen hauling a kayak on to a beach about five miles north of Carteret the following morning. But inquiries in France have failed to establish if it was the Mr Keeble and Miss Tye. A full air and sea search failed to locate any items that might be linked to them.

Supt David Minty said the police could confirm that they have not received any missing person reports in the names of Mr Keeble or Miss Tye or any similar names, and that there were no other outstanding missing persons.

He said there were 'no active lines of inquiry' in respect of the use of credit or debit cards in those names anywhere since they went missing. Mr Minty said that the States police would make no comment on whether or not forensic tests had been carried out on items belonging to the couple that were recovered from the campsite.

He said: "We began this inquiry as an investigation into the circumstances of some campers who had failed to return to a campsite by way of a welfare check.

"The circumstances were such that this couple may well have set out to sea in an inflatable kayak. That has not been proved conclusively either way."

Mr Minty said that there were no active criminal, or other, investigations in train but said the States police would review the position should anything come to notice.

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