POLICE searching for a missing diver off the Dorset coast called off the search for his body on Monday evening.
Graham Packer, 61, from Frampton Cotterell near Bristol, went missing on Thursday after diving with a friend near the Lanes Ground reef in Lyme Bay.
It is thought Mr Packer, an experienced recreational diver ran out of air during a 22m (72ft) dive for scallops and failed to resurface.
An extensive underwater search for Mr Packer was concluded by police without recovering his body on Monday.
Marine divers and a sonar search and dive team searched for 10 hours on Sunday and eight hours on Monday.
Conditions were particularly challenging due to the size of the search parameters and the tides in the area.
A Dorset Police spokesperson said that to extend the search area would be “an increasingly sizeable task with a decreasing chance of success.”
Detective Inspector Stewart Dipple said: “It is with great sadness that the search has been concluded without success.
“All of those involved in the joint operation were totally committed to locating Graham Packer and bring him home to his family in order to provide closure on where there loved one is.”
DI Dipple expressed his gratitude to the search teams and said the investigation into the circumstances of the incident would continue.
Police say Mr Packer's buddy, a 47-year-old man from Swindon, risked his own life to try and save him.
The Swindon man was airlifted to a specialist unit in Poole for treatment
source: bournemouthecho.co.uk
Diving Claims
Offshore Claims
