The sister of a missing Workington man says private divers are certain he is not in the River Derwent and have asked people to keep an eye out further afield.
Nicholas Degraff, 23, went missing on December 12. He was last seen in Great Clifton and the alarm was raised when his dog was found running loose by the river.
Mass searches were launched by emergency services including police, Coastguard, mountain rescue teams and members of the community also joined in.
However, other than finding his jacket in the river and his dog’s lead.
Specialist dive teams were brought in by Cumbria police and on Boxing Day, private divers launched a search in the river to see if they could help bring Nicholas home.
The dive team gave their time for free to help with the search.
Earlier this month a JustGiving page was set up for the Degraff family and raised more than £18,000 to help pay for private expert searches.
However, his sister Charlotte said on Facebook: “The private divers have done an amazing job searching the river over three days and they are 99.9 per cent certain that Nic is not in the River Derwent.
“Please can we ask that this status is shared to try and reach Scotland/Isle of Man, so the public can be aware and keep an eye out on the coastlines.”
Meanwhile, his friends and family visited Hall Park in Workington on Monday to set off fireworks to mark Nicholas’ birthday.
Nicholas is described as 5ft 10in, of slim build and with short, brown hair.
He has tattoos on his face and neck with spacer ear piercings.
He was last seen wearing a black jacket, black jogging bottoms, work boots and carrying an Iceland carrier bag.
Nicholas also had in his possession a 3M SPEED GLAS black welding mask – likely carried in a bag – which would be quite distinctive if found, police said.
Anyone with any other information is urged to report it at www.cumbria.police.uk/reportit or call 101.
