The ‘Operation Search’ to find the teenager who disappeared in the Mar Menor at the beginning of January ended this Sunday at midday with no results or clues despite the efforts. The device, coordinated by the Guardia Civil and the City of Los Alcazares, started early in the morning from the town with the support of the Maritime Captaincy and involving the municipalities of San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier and Cartagena, Red Cross and nautical clubs and companies with a presence in the lagoon.
«Unfortunately, neither Ivor Petrov nor any of his belongings that may be in the water, such as his bandolier or the other flip-flop, have been found,» reported the mayor of Los Alcázares, Mario Ginés Pérez, shortly after 14.00 hours, after thanking all the people and organisations involved in the operation. The family of the young man, who received a visit from the mayor and emergency officials during the operation, will hold a press conference tomorrow at the Hotel Atrio del Mar in Los Alcázares, at 12.00 noon, to ask for the resources to find their loved one to continue.
«The Town Hall will not cease, Ivo must be found; we are using all available means and we hope that this will be done imminently so that the suffering of the family and all the residents of Los Alcázares comes to an end», continued the Mayor, who stressed that in the short term the search «in the water, in the Mar Menor» or «the rest of the investigations being carried out by the Guardia Civil» will be completed.
Due to the storm on Saturday, the Guardia Civil divers focused on areas where it was more likely that «the body, being on the surface, had been dragged», said the chief sergeant of the Group of Specialists in Underwater Activities (GEAS) of Murcia, Francisco Cabañero, in the previous appearance, who ruled out that he was trapped, because «the bottom is clean, there are practically no obstacles».
Despite the amount of resources mobilised, and the fact that it is not open sea, Cabañero admitted that it is not possible to explain why, more than two weeks later, the teenager has not been found in the waters of the Mar Menor.
From first thing in the morning
The Guardia Civil and the Town Hall of Los Alcázares coordinated yesterday with the Capitanía Marítima to get first hand knowledge of the currents in the Mar Menor over the last few days, distribute resources and set the six search areas.
The operation, which included a Benemérita helicopter, was divided into six search areas: the first three in areas of shallow water, a task for which 15 jet skis were used to comb the coast; in the other three, 12 boats were used for the interior of the lagoon, sailing both in a straight line and «spiralling inwards to cover the largest possible area», said the coordinator of the Emergency Service of Los Alcázares, Carmelo Martínez, before starting the tasks shortly after nine o’clock in the morning.
«Operation Search and Rescue complements the work carried out previously,» the mayor recalled. In addition, he valued the fact that this Sunday the weather was good, because «yesterday there was an easterly wind», a circumstance which, in theory, should have facilitated the search for Ivo Petrov.
«We are going to continue using the resources available to us so that, once and for all, the family can find him,» said Pérez.
Among the resources involved, Martinez highlighted the presence of two jet skis from the Civil Protection of San Pedro del Pinatar; three boats from Los Alcazares Town Hall, one rescue boat from San Javier; two from the Civil Protection of Cartagena, one from the Red Cross; one from the Santiago de la Ribera Yacht Club and three from Los Alcazares, as well as private individuals from the latter entity.