Search continues

A 63-year-old mushroom picker has not been seen since Saturday and last night, after a second day of searching for Francesc Coll proved fruitless, concerns for his life were growing. Coll was last seen on Saturday by a friend, LLorenç, who set out on the Son Oliver estate between Santa Maria and Bunyola with the missing man to hunt for mushrooms. During the afternoon, as it started to rain, Llorenc decided to drive home, Coll, who knew the area and the paths extremely well, said he would carry on a bit more and then go home. The 63-year-old has not been seen since. Over 150 volunteers, police, firemen and members of the emergency services spent Sunday searching for Coll and many continued the hunt, co-ordinated by the Guardia Civil, yesterday. Sadly, at going to press last night, the mushroom picker from Santa Maria was still missing. An area where Coll was last seen was combed by volunteers, working in groups of 50, but while on Sunday an empty can of beer believed to have been the one Coll set out with was found, yesterday no signs of the man were recovered. Yesterday police sniffer dogs were brought in, but still no traces of Francisco Coll were found. Support from a Guardia Civil helicopter, none of the volunteers, led by the Mayor of Santa Maria, Rosa Vich, gave up hope and continued until night fall when the search was again called off until this morning. The Mayor made it clear last night that the search will continue for at least the next few days if Coll has still not been found, a small search team of volunteers will remain in the area, just in case. The family of the missing man were understandably becoming increasingly concerned last night about Coll's well being, not only because of his age and the poor weather conditions, but also because he had recently undergone surgery.