Updated article, search will start at 8am
Peter Faulding, a world-renowned forensics expert and founder of private search and rescue organisation Specialist Group International, has confirmed his team of divers will be on site from 8am.
He said last night that he will be bringing 'high-spec' sonar equipment, worth around £55,000, that has a 'very high hit rate' and can 'find people within the hour' in search operations.
Mr Faulding, who will also survey the route of the river by helicopter, told Sky News: 'We're assisting with our dive team. We carry out all the underwater operations in the south east for the police anyway, but we're bringing a particularly high-spec piece of equipment, 1,800-kilohertz specialist side-scan sonar.
'Each year we deal with a lot of drownings and we locate them extremely quickly. The difference with this sonar is that it's very, very high frequency.
'It's about £55,000 and it scans the river and I can see every stick and stone lying on the river bed. We've got a very high hit rate with this.
He added: 'Our sonar is probably a bit more superior but I've got a lot of specialist search expertise and I've worked on hundreds of these cases and we always generally find people within the hour in lakes etc.'
Peter Faulding, a world-renowned forensics expert and founder of private search and rescue organisation Specialist Group International, has confirmed his team of divers will be on site from 8am.
He said last night that he will be bringing 'high-spec' sonar equipment, worth around £55,000, that has a 'very high hit rate' and can 'find people within the hour' in search operations.
Mr Faulding, who will also survey the route of the river by helicopter, told Sky News: 'We're assisting with our dive team. We carry out all the underwater operations in the south east for the police anyway, but we're bringing a particularly high-spec piece of equipment, 1,800-kilohertz specialist side-scan sonar.
'Each year we deal with a lot of drownings and we locate them extremely quickly. The difference with this sonar is that it's very, very high frequency.
'It's about £55,000 and it scans the river and I can see every stick and stone lying on the river bed. We've got a very high hit rate with this.
He added: 'Our sonar is probably a bit more superior but I've got a lot of specialist search expertise and I've worked on hundreds of these cases and we always generally find people within the hour in lakes etc.'
Diving team to use helicopters and sonar TODAY in Nicola Bulley search
Peter Faulding, a world-renowned forensics expert who is a diver for the police and has worked on hundreds of cases across the south east, believes it is unlikely the river bank is the correct answer.
www.dailymail.co.uk