Search team tells of ‘huge task’ in search for Nicola
SEARCH teams looking for the body of Nicola Payne say they have got a “huge task” ahead of them.
Divers are searching the fishing lake at Coombe Country Park with high-tech equipment being used in an attempt to find any human remains that may be at the beauty spot.
Woodland at the country park has long been believed to be the most likely place to find the 18-year-old’s body.
Nicola vanished after leaving her boyfriend’s home in Henley Green in December 1991 to walk to her parents’ home nearby.
She was last seen entering a patch of land known as the ‘Black Pad’.
West Midlands Police have previously carried out a number of searches at Coombe and those efforts have now been taken on by Specialist Group International (SGI) and investigative journalist Mark WilliamsThomas.
Peter Faulding, from SGI, who has previously worked on searches as part of the investigation in to serial killer Peter Tobin, explained to the Telegraph exactly what is happening this week.
He said: “Our divers are following a line in to the lake that goes for 15 metres and then come back along the other side of the line.
“They are doing a fingertip search of the silt and then move the line along the lake.
“We are also using ground penetrating radar, magnetometer and metal detectors.
“Nothing of significance has been found so far, but all of this gives us the best chance of finding Nicola, but it is a huge task.
“The police have done searches here and we are in a slightly different area to continue the work they have done.”
The latest searches are being paid for by SGI and Mark Williams-Thomas, at no cost to the taxpayer, and are expected to continue until the end of the week.
However, if they fail to find anything of significance, Peter has vowed to return until they do.
He also said they needed to make the most of the current conditions at Coombe Country Park.
He explained: “There is no foliage in winter, but as soon as we enter spring everything will grow up which makes it a lot harder to see things.”