The “little hike” turned into an endless wait.
An investigation was opened after the worrying disappearance of a French couple ten days ago on the island of Madeira (Portugal), the public prosecutor in Montauban announced on Tuesday.
“To date, the local judicial police are continuing their investigation and the search continues,” he said.
Originally from Beaumont-de-Lomagne (Tarn-et-Garonne), where they run a bakery, according to the local daily La Dépêche du Midi, Véronique and Laurent Blond have not given any sign of life since they left on the 16th. March for a “little hike” to Sao Vicente, on the Portuguese island where they were on vacation, the prosecutor said in a press release.
Left with two bottles of water
It was their 27-year-old daughter who, not seeing them return even though they had only left with two bottles of water, raised the alarm in the afternoon, he said.
“Significant search resources were immediately mobilized on site, including firefighters, local police and gendarmerie, civil protection, the maritime authority and the judicial police;
the use of drones also quickly strengthened the system,” details the press release.
The prosecutor referred the matter to the Castelsarrasin research brigade and the Beaumont-de-Lomagne gendarmerie “of this judicial investigation opened into a worrying disappearance”.
On the French side, the first investigations, including a search of the parents' home and telephone inquiries, did not produce any new elements.