Madeira - Darren Kay, 52, ‘fell runner, did not return from a run’ 11 Dec 2022

[StillDiggin]

A British man has gone missing while out running by himself on the island of Madeira, his family has said.
Fell runner Darren Kay, 52, was on holiday with his partner in the town of Calheta when the couple went on a two-hour run together on Sunday.
Mr Kay, from Sedbergh in Cumbria, decided to carry on by himself but never returned, his brother said.
Jonny Kay said his family were very worried and were flying to the island to assist with the search.
Mr Kay had told his partner he would carry on running alone for another 30 minutes but has not been seen since.
"She was just waiting for him and he didn't come back," Mr Kay's brother said.
Mr Kay's partner reported him missing to the local police and believed a land and sea search was being carried out.

Darren Kay: Fell runner goes missing on holiday in Madeira

Darren Kay has not been seen since Sunday when he continued on alone after a run with his partner.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

fell running is a new term to this american. It is running uphill apparently, or where there is a steep grade. Leading one to think about accidents... may he be found soon

 

[StillDiggin]

Portuguese authorities issue latest news on search for missing runner

THE search for a Sedbergh man missing while on holiday in Madeira is being conducted solely by firefighters, according to Portuguese sources.

www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk

 

[StillDiggin]

Friends of Briton missing in Madeira pray for 'Christmas miracle'

Service technician Darren Kay, who has represented Britain in mountain and fell running competitions, was last seen on Sunday afternoon near the town of Calheta after going out for a run with his partner

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[StillDiggin]

Fell runner missing for days after going jogging on holiday in Madeira

A huge search has been launched to find missing Darren Kay, who is originally from Bolton

www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

 

[LemonMint]

Missing runner's family overwhelmed by support - BBC News

Darren Kay went missing while running alone on Madeira almost a week ago.

www.bbc.com

 

[Seni]

Searches continue for missing runner as thousands raised to aid efforts

THOUSANDS of pounds have been raised by friends of missing runner in Madeira.

www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk

THOUSANDS of pounds has been raised by friends of a missing Cumbrian runner in Portugal.

(..)

Friends and family have joined the efforts to find him.

Through the fundraising platform '' a campaign was created to support the searches of the Sedbergh man.

The target was to collect £10,000. The goal has been reached with £10,592 donated.

(..)

A statement issued by the Madeira Regional Command to The Westmorland Gazette on Tuesday said: "On December 15, the search was restarted again, with additional human and material resources of the Police Force and Calheta Voluntary Fire Brigade and the Maritime Police"


"Mountain Search, Assistance and Rescue Brigade was used, equipped with search and rescue kinotechnical means and also drones, in order to maximise the search.

"On the same day, at 3:30 pm, the parents of the missing citizen were received in the Operational Command. They were informed of all the steps already taken by police.

"On the following day a nautical boat was engaged and searches were made along the coast."

"On December 17, between 1:45 pm and 6:04 pm, the search by sea was restarted again by the Navy.

"Since December 17, the Calheta Police Station has patrolled the area where the alleged disappearance occurred, with no positive results so far."

Mr Kay is the fourth tourist to disappear on the Madeira mountains in the last year and a half.

 

[tarabull]

Friends of Briton missing in Madeira pray for 'Christmas miracle'

Service technician Darren Kay, who has represented Britain in mountain and fell running competitions, was last seen on Sunday afternoon near the town of Calheta after going out for a run with his partner

www.dailymail.co.uk

Snipped...
...In the past year and a half before Mr Kay went missing, three tourists disappeared on the island of Madeira and have yet to be found.

They have been named as Polish national Michael Kozek and Frenchman Benoit Way, both 35, and German Jascha Hardenberg, 28.

 

[tarabull]

I see he had been running a route between Faja do Mar and Madalena do Mar..
Would he have been running on the ER101???
I suppose he would have been running hills rather than along the coastline on the 101???

I see there are sections of the ER101 that are closed today (between those two towns) and have been closed for a few days fwiw

Are they searching???

 

[Seni]

Searches cease for British fell runner missing in Madeira - Portugal Resident

Searches cease for British fell runner missing in Madeira; Searches cease for British fell runner missing in Madeira

www.portugalresident.com

Authorities in Madeira have ceased all searches for missing British fell runner Darren Kay, ‘an elite athlete’ who simply disappeared on the last leg of a long run near Calheta, where he was staying with his partner Victoria.

Mr Kay, 52, thus becomes the 4th seemingly ‘extremely fit and able’ tourist who has vanished without trace in the island’s mountains over the last two years.

This is what makes his disappearance even more devastating. Accidents involving tourists exploring Madeira’s hillside walks are not uncommon, but situations in which they disappear altogether, leaving absolutely no clues as to what may have happened, are not (or perhaps, have not been, until now).

The common thread linking the disappearances of Polish mountain trail runner Michel Kozek, 35, German Jascha Paul Hardenberg, 28, French traveller Benoit Way, 35, and now Darren Kay is that they were all out on their own when they went missing.

Michel Kozek, Jascha Paul Hardenberg and Darren Kay are connected by location: the three went missing in the Calheta area. Benoit Way seems to have gone missing on the other side of the island, but may have been walking towards Calheta (no one knows).

Family members of all four men have been involved in the various searches – in the case of Michel Kozek, his brother Krzysztof has reportedly returned to the region on a number of occasions, unable to fully accept that his brother appears to have ‘gone for good’.

Darren Kay’s brother Jonny has also been heavily involved in these latest searches, sending out an email last weekend saying the family will continue looking for their loved one (for how long is unclear).

(..)

What made the searches for Darren Kay doubly difficult was that the route he took, for what was meant to be ‘another 30 minute run’ (having already run around two hours with his partner), is very unclear. He had reportedly talked of wanting to see the waves, said local reports. Did he want to see them from ‘high up above’, or did he mean to run down towards the sea? If the latter, Jornal Madeira has remarked that the sea was “very rough on December 11”, which also made searches “difficult”.

 

[tarabull]

Missing #5

MADEIRA - Emanuel Martins Freitas, 72, dementia, is w/o meds, Funchal/Boa Nova, 14 Dec 2022

https://i0.wp.com/www.madeiraislandnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/4b442b00-b03.webp?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1 ...anyone who has any information to contact the Public Security Police or through the number 963913883 because the only thing they want is “the family member at home this Christmas”...

www.websleuths.com

 

[StillDiggin]

Sorry to her searches are stopping for Darren. Thats quite a lot 4 disappearances of seemingly fit athletes in 2 yrs. One of those Michal Kosek a polish national who disappeared on July 2021. His brother has returned recently to the island to search.

BROTHER RETURNS TO THE REGION A YEAR LATER TO LOOK FOR MICHAL KOZEK IN THE CALHETA MOUNTAINS - Madeira Island News Blog

www.madeiraislandnews.com

 

[annpats]

The island of Madeira is quite dense and mountainous, I was very surprised by just how much when I went there.

They also have these mini irrigation channels there called 'lavadas' which are all over the island and run for many kilometers. The water trickles down to the towns.
Walking the lavadas is popular, and although some are well-used and easier, and others are remote and isolated.

Photos below to give you an idea.

I wonder if he decided to finish his run on one of the lavadas?

But my main gripe is, why did they split up? You should always stay together. An extra 20 minutes jogging has now probably cost him his life.

There are many other visitors to Madeira missing there. I think the terrain is a lot more unforgiving than people realise.

 

[tarabull]

Snipped...

...This is the fourth runner to go missing without a trace on the island while running alone in the last two years. Local news reports that three of the four were staying in the Calheta area when they went missing.

Search called off for missing runner in Madeira - Canadian Running Magazine

He is the fourth runner to go missing without a trace on the island while running alone in the last two years

runningmagazine.ca

 

[StillDiggin]

A French couple go for a short walk in Madeira Sat 16 March and both sadly fail to return home and are still missing.

https://www.portugalresident.com/search-for-missing-french-couple-continues-in-madeira/

Searches for missing couple in northern Madeira continue today in coastal area

The search for a couple of tourists who have been missing since Saturday on the north coast of the island of Madeira continues today, said a source from the

www.portugalpulse.com

 

[annpats]

Yes, Madeira is dreadful for people going missing on walks, I've heard of many going missing there. The trails in the mountainous wet countryside are more dangerous than people think.
Doing these trails is one of the most popular things to do for tourists there, some of them are guided, some are for different abilities, but the paths you have to follow along these water aquatics are very narrow. If you fall off, you'll be in thick deep mountainous vegetation and will never be found.

 

[Madeiraexpat]

Hi,

In addition to the missing people cases in Madeira that have received press coverage, there are a couple of other similar disappearances in recent years that are not as well known, but are available to view on the Policia Judiciara website. See below summary that doesn't include the French couple who went missing in March 2024:

1. Isidro de Jesus Figueira - visiting from Jersey, vanished in the mountains above Funchal on 4 July 2019. Isidro de Jesus Figueira – Polícia Judiciária
2. Jascha Hardenberg - disappeared hiking on 29 December 2020. Missing Tourists - Madeira Island News Blog
3. Michal Kozek - disappeared hiking/trail running 7 July 2021 Missing Tourists - Madeira Island News Blog
4. Benoit Way - disappeared while on a twelve day hike/camping trip on 1 September 2021 Missing Tourists - Madeira Island News Blog
5. Wolfgang Mehrle - visiting from Germany, seen on foot in Encumeada on 17 December 2022 with a head wound apparently acquired during a mountain hike, subsequently failed to show up for his flight and never seen again. Wolfgang Mehrle – Polícia Judiciária
6. Darren Kay - as explained in the earlier posts, went missing while trail running on 11 December 2022.

While all of the above are easily explained away by discussing how dangerous and inaccessible many of the hiking routes in the mountains are, the inexplicable element is that of the above, only one body has ever been found, that being the remains of Benoit Way, found in a river in Sao Jorge. In addition, no trace of these people has been found, no clothing, no backpacks, no phones, nothing. I do think the searches in some instances sounded very light touch, in Jascha Hardenberg's case it seemd to be a two to three day effort in bad weather conditions. However in Michal Kozek's case, the family organised a trained team to come to Madeira for a month to search, and again, no trace has been found.

 

[Madeiraexpat]

I am curious to know what other people on the thread think about this situation, particularly if there is anyone on here that is Madeiran. Any local I've ever discussed this with is completely sure that nothing sinister is to blame. The below is an article published on Madeira Island News today
____
Micahal Kozek’s brother returned to Madeira this week to look for his family member, but the mystery remains about the 35-year-old Polish citizen who disappeared on July 7, 2021 in the Calheta mountains.

Christopher Kozek, the ultramarathoner’s younger brother, was in Madeira for three weeks at the time of his brother’s disappearance, but ended up returning to his country.

A year later, he returned to Madeira in December, having returned to Switzerland after some adventures in the Region, including a hospital stay.

Interestingly, in the week that a French couple disappeared in the mountains of São Vicente, Christopher Kozek is in Madeira, where he arrived last Saturday. He is staying in a local accommodation in that municipality and began a search phase in Fajã da Areia. However, there is some curiosity in this decision, especially because his brother disappeared in the mountains of Calheta.

Michal Kozek's brother returns to Madeira three years later to carry out new searches - Madeira Island News Blog

www.madeiraislandnews.com

 

[StillDiggin]

Accidents do happen in Maderia. There are parts of it that are very dangerous place to walk, run. There was a successful rescue the other day.

Reinforced emergency services to rescue a tourist who fell on Levada do Bom Sucesso - Madeira Island News Blog

www.madeiraislandnews.com

The presumed logic may be a lot of these disappearances, people have gone in the sea, mostly due to an accident, maybe the odd person choosing this way. I think there might be something more sinister at play but it’s just an opinion. I am aware that in the eyes of the local & French police everything is on the table with what has happened to the missing couple (thread created).

Madeira, Veronique & Laurent Blond, 56 & 58, French Nationals, never returned from a walk. Fajã da Areia, Madeira, March 16 2024.

The French couple were reported missing in Madeira on March 16, and the alert was given by their daughter who was also on vacation in the region and who, on that day, chose to rest. The tourists were staying in a local accommodation in Fajã da Areia and went for a walk on Saturday afternoon...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Coconutty]

The weather changes very quickly in Madeira and the terrain can be very deceptive. The latest couple to go missing are suspicious to me though.