Hikers fail to find missing friend

Jeffery Moore (centre) was reported missing by his fiancée Marilyn

A team of hikers who began their own search for their friend who has been missing in the Austrian Alps for nearly two weeks are returning home.

The group have drawn a blank in their hunt for Jeffery Moore, 37, from Webb Road in Fareham, who disappeared after setting off from the mountain resort of Heiligenblut early on Monday, 25 August.

An intensive search effort by local police - involving more than 100 officers, a helicopter and search dogs - was called off after three days.

The seven fellow hikers left for Heiligenblut on Sunday, 7 September, to see if they could solve the mystery of what happened to Mr Moore, who was on holiday with his fiancée Marilyn when he went missing.

They traced his last known steps but without success.

Poster campaign

The hikers, expected to arrive back from Austria on Friday, have left behind hundreds of posters hoping they will jog someone's memory.

But Austrian police believe there is a simple explanation for his disappearance.

Lieutenant Johann Schunn, of the Austrian Federal Police, told the BBC: "On Monday morning (25 August), he intended to walk alone to a famous waterfall.

"We think that, while in England he is a mountain hiker, he is not fit for alpine climbing tours.

"We also think that his equipment was not sufficient for the alpine area."

Heiligenblut is the closest town to the highest mountain in Austria, the Grossglockner peak, and is used as a starting point for hikes.