© Lynn Cruchten
An 85-year-old woman was reported missing on Monday evening in north-east Luxembourg. On Thursday, her son confirmed that specialist dogs had found a lead.
In light of the disappearance, certain areas of the forest were searched thoroughly again on Friday. Our RTL colleague Lynn Cruchten spoke to Anne Buckland's family after the search operation, and also reached out to the police and nursing home that she was staying in.
The Red Cross, which runs the search operation, confirmed it is working with the family and the authorities to find Anne Buckland and that it prefers to concentrate fully on the search at this time of concern and grief. The police did not wish to reply to an interview, but said that officers are still looking for the missing woman and that it is the public prosecutor who decides what form the search should take. In addition, the appeal for witnesses launched on Tuesday remains open.
After volunteers had scoured the hiking trails in the municipality of Junglinster on Thursday and divided into small groups, a more detailed search was carried out on Friday in specific forest areas to the west of Junglinster for the missing woman - such as the area around 2 kilometres on foot from the Junglinster retirement home, where Anne Buckland was last seen on Monday.
Tom Buckland, son of the missing Anne Buckland: "We searched three areas today with volunteers, the police and the park warden. Areas that were sometimes difficult to access, which we searched with precision, in case my mother had fallen."
Unfortunately, the search was unsuccessful and the chances of finding her alive are diminishing. Her daughter Sarah Preston, who has just arrived from England, is well aware of this.
"You hear a lot of stories that give you hope. But you have to be realistic. It's cold, my mother is old and we still haven't seen her. We're very grateful for all the help we're getting."
The family also gave particular thanks to the ASBL Sichhënn.lu as well as to the forest ranger in charge of coordinating the search operations. "But there was also fantastic cooperation with the local police and the retirement home," says the family. At the same time, the family sees no blame in the staff of CIPA (Integrated Centre for the Elderly) for not noticing Mrs Buckland's disappearance earlier.
Sarah Preston: "My mother often went out on her own, so we were also pleased that she was allowed to go out on her own. She wanted her freedom and we are pleased that this was respected for her at the nursing home."
The missing woman's family also repeated their appeal for help.
Tom Buckland: "We are asking everyone in the area to look in their gardens, sheds, barns or stables. That would help enormously. Because we can't conduct searches on private land, and we don't have enough people to search everywhere."
You can watch the full RTL report in Luxembourgish:
