Hope fades for missing hiker as army calls off search

3:00pm Friday 3rd December 2004

Hope of finding missing hiker Nicholas Roth and his American companion is fading fast a week after the Nicaraguan Army called off its search for them.

Mr Roth, 28, a former pupil at Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree, and Jordan Ressler, 23, from San Diego, disappeared on November 17 after setting off to climb the 1,394-metre Maderas Volcano on the Isla de Ometepe, 60 miles south-east of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua.

A Foreign Office spokesman said that the army's last efforts to find the pair were conducted on Friday morning last week.

The family of American student Jordan Ressler are now funding a private search.

The spokesman said that the British Government would keep in contact with the authorities, but were unable to do anything else. He added: "The Nicaraguan military are the ones that have expertise in that area."

Up to 80 rescue workers have been involved in searching for the pair, but bad weather on the slopes of the 4,573ft volcano has made progress difficult.

The Nicaraguan army raised hopes last Friday morning when they said the pair had been spotted during an air search over the jungle, but the report turned out to be false.

The volcano is dormant and has not been active for quite some time. It is not on the Foreign Office's list of places to avoid but there is a risk of flooding, strong winds and volcano eruption on the island.