CCTV is reported to have shown him leaving a Torbay hotel before he apparently walked into the water. Police have separately appealed for a missing man last seen nearby, but have not said the two cases are linked.
A nine-hour search by lifeboats, the coastguard and police found no trace of a man who is reported to have entered the sea at Torbay, Devon, during Storm Austen. RNLI Torbay said CCTV appeared to show a man leaving a hotel near Goodrington in shorts and a T-shirt at lunchtime on Friday. He did not return, and Solent Coastguard asked the lifeboat station to help. Conditions were severe, and the all-weather lifeboat was at sea for more than eight hours.
The search
The source says crews launched at around 6.10pm and carried out a shoreline search. The research notes give more detailed timings, which I have not checked. Solent Coastguard tasked Torbay RNLI at 6.09pm, the inshore crew was paged at 6.12pm, and the all-weather lifeboat launched at 6.38pm.
Exmouth RNLI sent its Shannon lifeboat at 6.35pm, while a drone unit and coastguard rescue teams checked the shore. Winds ranged from force five to eight, according to the lifeboat station.
Torbay RNLI said: “Storm Austen’s presence meant the sea state and weather conditions were challenging, severely hampering the ability to spot the casualty in or near the water, and explaining why so many search assets were called upon.”
During the operation, the station received a radio call from a fisherman whose small boat had suffered an engine failure. It was sheltering against the cliffs near London Bridge and was towed into harbour. The inshore lifeboat then carried out a second shoreline search, and was stood down around 9.10pm as conditions worsened.
Searches continued through the night to Hopes Nose, the Mussel Farm and further offshore, and ended around 2am. The all-weather lifeboat was back at the station by about 3.10am. The notes say a Coastguard helicopter, Rescue 94, took part, returning to Newquay to refuel, and that a fixed-wing surveillance aircraft joined overnight. They also say the crews used three parallel-track search patterns with the Exmouth lifeboat. Those details come from a longer account that I have not verified.
Daylight search
At 11.45am on Saturday, Solent Coastguard asked for a daylight search at Roundham. Volunteer crew were paged at 11.56am, gathered at 12.01pm and launched at 12.10pm. Two members went ashore to check the rocks. Torbay RNLI said conditions were “still not easy with driving rain, strong West to Northwest winds and turbulent seas”.
It said: “Nobody was found and the crew were stood down by Solent returning to station by 2:48pm where they made the lifeboat ready for service before heading home to well-deserved lunch.”
It added: “Whilst the two shouts did not lead to a conclusive outcome, the response of our volunteer Crew, along with the sustained presence of in-station support throughout, including our DLAs and attending Crew’s family (who turned up to provide hot teas and bacon sarnies to returning crew members), was commendably impressive, over what has been a memorable passing-by of Storm Austen.”
Police appeal for a missing man
Devon and Cornwall Police are searching for Andrew “Andy” Hill, 43, from Dartmouth, who was last seen walking along Goodrington seafront in Paignton at about 12.30pm on Friday 23 October. He has links to Totnes, Paignton and Newton Abbot, and police say they are increasingly concerned for his welfare.
He is described as about 6ft tall and of medium build, with a moustache and medium-brown hair, shaved at the sides and longer on top. Torbay Today reports that he was wearing a cream shirt with a tropical pattern, grey shorts and no shoes. Anyone with information should call 999, quoting incident log 244 of 23 October.
His wife, Sarah Hill, has appealed publicly. She told Torbay Weekly the family desperately wanted him home, and Torbay Today says Goodrington is one of his favourite places. The family has asked residents of Goodrington and Paignton to check sheds and outbuildings in case he has taken shelter.
The place and time closely match the lifeboat search, but police have not confirmed that the two reports concern the same person. The CCTV footage has not been published or authenticated. No body or other physical evidence has been reported, and nothing explains why anyone might have entered the water. No further lifeboat search on Sunday has been announced, and police had not announced that Mr Hill had been found.
