HEAVY rain is hindering efforts to find a missing 93-year-old man, but the search is continuing.
Sidney Box – known as Donald or Don – has been missing since the evening of Thursday, January 5.
He was last seen wearing a black/dark grey dressing gown with thin red stripes running horizontally, and grey trousers.
It is possible he is not wearing shoes.
Thames Valley Police is leading efforts to try and find him, with help from Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue, and members of the community.
A support base has been set up at Brookside Church, where there is also a special room set aside for people who want to pray for Sidney and his family.
And officers have been knocking on doors in the Lower Earley area in a bid to try and find him.
Thorough searches of the Maiden Erlegh Nature Reserve and streets including Silverdale Road, Kenton Road, and Raggleswood Close have been made.
Earlier today, Superintendent Adrian Hall said that Sidney’s disappearance was out of character and that the family are extremely concerned about his wellbeing given the weather conditions and the clothes he was wearing.
“The weather does hinder our efforts,” he said. “We’ve got officers out on the ground and we have to consider their welfare and the volunteers from Berkshire Lowland Search and and Rescue.
“It’s sometimes not practical to get a drone up.
“But we continue to persist, and officers will be out and about to continue the search throughout the weather.”
He praised the community for wanting to help.
“There are a lot of people offering their support, which is great,” Supt Hall said. “We want to try and coordinate that so we can make the best use of everybody.
“There’s a lot of stuff on social media that has been organised by Sidney’s family, which is great.”
Supt Hall said specialist search advisors will visit the area tomorrow to lend their support.
Sidney’s family are being supported by specialist officers.
He added: “It remains our top priority to locate Sidney safely, and so I would again appeal to anybody who believes that they have seen him to get in touch with Thames Valley Police urgently, by calling us on 999, quoting reference number 513 of 6th January.
“You can also report sightings via our dedicated missing persons portal, which is monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
