Brit gran missing in Greece with hopes of finding her 'diminishing by the day'
The daughter of a missing British pensioner fears the worst after her mother vanished without a trace over two weeks ago on a Greek island.
Susan Hart, 75, and her Swiss-national husband, Ed, have been visiting the island of Kalymnos, in the Aegen Sea, for around eight years.
The former World Health Organisation employee and her husband of 25 years live in Switzerland.
They are both keen climbers and made their first trip back to Kalymnos since the pandemic with a group of friends in April.
Speaking exclusively with the Mirror, Bethan Blackwell shared the horror she and her two sisters have been going through since their mother disappeared.
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"How does someone just disappear without a trace? The hopes of finding her alive are diminishing by the day and my sisters and I do not know what to do next," Bethan says from the UK after flying to Greece for the search from her home in Canada.
She continues: "Do we start grieving or keep having hope that she's still out there alive? What's our next avenue?"
Bethan explains that on Sunday, April 30, the pair took a 10-minute ferry to visit the secluded island of Telendos.
She has gone missing in Kalymnos, Greece (iStockphoto)Ed was with a friend and they went off to do some rock climbing.
Bethan continues: "My stepdad arranged with Mum that she would hang out on the front of the island, where the boat comes in, she would read a book and she would go to a restaurant.
"When he came back, she was not where she was supposed to be."
They asked in the restaurant, but the grandmother of four had not dined there and no one recalls seeing her.
Officials launched an extensive search for the mum, aided by volunteers and the coast guard, as well as Bethan's two sisters, Ella 43, from London and Ruth, 45, who flew in from Australia.
But for the family originally from Bath, her disappearance is full of unknowns.
There have been claims that Susan was found dead at the bottom of a cliff, but Bethan refutes this.
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
"We have been desperately trying to shut down these claims. One of the search teams actually called up a Greek TV show that made the claims and threatened to sue them if they did not take down the claims", she says.
Matthew Searle, the Chief Executive of LBT Global, which helps families of British nationals missing abroad, who is assisting the family, told the Mirror: "As far as I'm aware, she hasn't been found dead or alive. She's still a missing person. So I don't know where that's come from.
"The problem with missing people cases, particularly when there's a language barrier, is that it's only a very quick translation fail before entirely the wrong thing has been reported."
After eight days, search and rescue dogs had still not been organised by local police so Ed paid privately.
For the family, originally from Bath, her disappearance is full of unknownsHe has also arranged for private search divers and the issue of CCTV is causing them great anguish.
They added: "We were told that CCTV footage of the last time she was seen shows her walking away from the restaurant she was supposed to be at. So we asked; 'Well, what about on the other side?'"
After lots of back and forth, they were eventually told that they could view the CCTV footage.
They went to the police station with a taxi driver - "John who has been fantastic" - who has been helping them with translations.
Suddenly they were denied access: "We don't know why they have directly lied to us. Maybe they wanted us off the island so we would stop bugging them."
Bethan shares concern over her mum's health, which she worries may add "another layer".
She continues: "We knew that she was suffering from some memory loss and me and my sisters feel that there is dementia involved but she hadn't had a formal diagnosis.
"It just doesn't make sense that there is no trace. We have tried everything. We have contacted, obviously, the British Consulate.
"My sister lives in Australia, so she contacted the Australian Consulate as well to see if they would put any pressure. Ed contacted the Swiss, but they said because she's not a Swiss citizen there was nothing they could do.
"It does feel like she is in a bit of a no man's land really. She doesn't live full-time in the UK but she's not a Swiss citizen."
Searle said: "I don't think they will be denied any support from the British embassy because she lives in Switzerland normally, that should not have any bearing on it at all."
The trust tells the Mirror they are speaking directly to businesses in the area as well as raising the profile in the area and liaising with the embassy.
Bethan says they are desperate to see the CCTV footage from behind the restaurant which goes in the direction of the sole path to the ferry.
She says: "That might settle something playing on our minds - she may have caught the ferry back to Kalymnos and gone missing there."
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are providing consular assistance to the family of a British woman who has been reported missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities.”
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