Concern growing for missing man

Update:

Police say they have found no evidence of foul play in the disappearance of missing teaching assistant Nathan Clarke.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday morning, Police Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden told reporters there was no evidence of “criminal activity” surrounding the missing person case.

Mr. Bodden, who is overseeing the investigation into the disappearance of Mr. Clarke – last seen on Saturday night, 25 February – was flanked at the briefing by Lisa Beck, girlfriend of the missing man, and her parents Philip and Elizabeth Beck, who flew in from England Tuesday night.

The family thanked the police and the many volunteers who had been scouring the island looking for Mr. Clarke, who works at Cayman Prep primary school, but called for other people to come forward and join the search.

Police also released a more recent photograph of the missing man, one taken the day before he disappeared.

A dedicated email address has also been set up to which people with photographs or videos taken at Calico Jacks on Saturday evening, shortly before Mr. Clarke disappeared on Saturday night, around 8.30pm. Those photos and videos can be sent to [email protected].

Earlier post:

Scores of volunteers spread out Tuesday morning throughout the areas near where Nathan Clarke was last seen on Seven Mile Beach.

Air, land and sea searches were carried out Monday and again on Tuesday to try to find some trace of the 30-year-old British teaching assistant, who disappeared around 9pm on Saturday night, 25 February.

Mr. Clarke, who has lived in Grand Cayman for four years and works at Cayman Prep and High School, was last seen by his girlfriend and three friends on the beach side of Calico Jack’s on Saturday.

The police’s search coordinator Jack Horner said the nearest mobile phone tower picked up a signal from Mr. Clarke’s cell phone early on Monday morning.

“The last signal was at about 1am Monday morning. From there, the battery’s gone dead or the phone’s been broken,” Mr. Horner said.

One person reported seeing a man fitting Mr. Clarke’s description trying to flag down a taxi or car on West Bay Road around midnight Saturday, but police are treating that report as a possible, rather than a confirmed, sighting.

On Public Beach on Tuesday morning, Mr. Horner briefed about 70 volunteers, who included Mr. Clarke’s colleagues from Cayman Prep, parents of children from the school, and other friends, on how Tuesday’s search would proceed.

A police marine boat patrolled Seven Mile Beach from 6am Tuesday and then went on to North Sound to check inlets along Raleigh Quay, Yacht Club, Salt Creek and other sites. Police divers were also planning to search other areas.

Mr. Horner said searches of the now-closed Courtyard Marriott Hotel had also been carried out, but a search by volunteers would not be done there as there were health and safety issues involved.

As well as searching for Mr. Clarke, the search team was told to be on the lookout for a black Samsung phone, a wallet and Quicksilver flip flops with a square red logo, which Mr. Clarke had on him when he was last seen.

Friends have hired pilot Jerome Begot of Cayman Islands Helicopters to help in the search as the police helicopter is off island. They have set up a fund to help pay for the search efforts and to offer a cash reward for information that can help find the missing man. Tara Nielsen, who is helping to coordinate the fundraising, said $6,000 had been raised and it was likely up to $50,000 would be donated. A Paypal account has been established to take donations, with details available on a Facebook page called Find Nathan that has also been set up.

Tuesday’s large coordinated search began at a brush area across the road from Calico Jack’s. Mr. Horner said that area had been covered briefly by the helicopter and a couple of people on Monday, but a more extensive search needed to be done, in case any of the belongings Mr. Clarke was carrying on him, such as his phone, could be found.

“Today we need to get it done properly,” he said. Volunteers lined up along the roadside and then systematically made their way through the grass, trees and bushes, using sticks, machetes and broken branches to search through dense areas.

Searchers were warned not to touch anything they find which they think could be connected to Mr. Clarke. Mr. Horner said crime scene officers were standing by.

On Sunday, the police K9 unit searched an area of Seven Mile Beach for Mr. Clarke and another tracking dog searched the scene on Monday.

“We’re going into our third day now, 60 hours since Nathan has been missing,” said Mr. Horner on Tuesday morning. “We’ve had a lot of foot traffic, both on the beach and the roadside, and we’ve had rain. Any type of scent or trail will have been degraded so much, it’s really not going to be worthwhile bringing anyone else in from the tracking side,” he told volunteers.

CCTV

Detectives have been checking CCTV footage from neighbouring businesses, including Calico Jack’s, Coutt’s Bank, Spinnaker’s and Duke’s.

Police have also asked security offices in the nearby condo complexes to check their CCTV footage.

“They’ve all got descriptions and pictures and anybody that looks similar, they will contact me or the detective in charge of the investigation,” Mr. Horner said.

Volunteers have been handing out flyers and missing person leaflets with photographs of the missing man to drivers in rush hour traffic to try to jog anyone’s memory of seeing Mr. Clarke.

The missing man, originally from Cheltenham, England, has worked at Cayman Prep since September 2011. His girlfriend Lisa Beck, who was among the last people to see him on Saturday night, is a teacher at the school.

Well loved

Brian Wilson, principal of the Cayman Prep primary school, said Mr. Clarke is a “very popular guy, very responsible and hard working and well-loved by everybody – by the pupils and fellow staff and the parents”.

Teachers at the school are anxious to do what they can to help find Mr. Clarke, who is studying at nights at the University College of the Cayman Islands and hopes to become a teacher, Mr. Wilson said.

“All the staff are very concerned. What we have been doing today and yesterday is we staggered it so some teachers could go down there in the morning and help with the search and then others would go in the afternoon. We still have normal school,” the principal said. Counsellors and church ministers are available to talk to children, teachers and parents, he said.

Mr. Clarke is white with tanned skin, blonde hair, blue eyes and is 5 feet 7 inches tall. He was last seen wearing slim-fitting beige Quicksilver broad shorts with pocket detail and Quicksilver flip flops.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Mr. Clarke, or who may have seen anyone fitting his description since Saturday night are asked to call police at (345) 949-4222.