A British woman who vanished from her sunbed on a Greek beach while her husband was sleeping was reportedly seen getting into deep water and was told to not go any further.
Michele Ann Joy Bourda, 59, had been swimming at Ofrynio beach in the city of Kavala at around noon on Friday before disappearing.
Police have been searching on land for the tourist, while Greece’s Hellenic Coast Guard have been scouring the sea, but the central port authority in Kavala last night said it had paused its targeted search and rescue efforts.
A sports instructor has now claimed that he saw a woman that resembled Mrs Bourda swimming in deep waters and said that he urged her to not go any further, LBC reports.
Sources have also claimed that her belongings were left behind next to her sun-lounger after she vanished.
A Silver Alert was issued after the police failed to immediately locate the tourist and authorities have warned that she may be in danger.
A source close to the investigation told The Sun: ‘We are giving it our all. There are still no signs as to whether she went missing on land or sea but right now there are no plans either to end this search.’
A coast guard official said that the Brit had been ‘residing temporarily’ in Serres, northern Greece.
‘Michele is a British citizen who likely also had a home in the UK’.
A map shows how the 10.5-mile-long Greek beach where Mrs Bourda vanished after lounging on a sunbed is surrounded by expansive fields, residential houses and a huge fishing pond.
Mrs Bourda was last seen wearing a rhinestone-embellished two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes and a pair of red horn-rimmed sunglasses.
It is understood she went to the beach in northern Greece with her Greek husband, who was asleep when she vanished.
When he woke up, his wife was nowhere to be found, according to local media.
She is described as being 5ft 6in, of a slim build with blue eyes and shoulder-length hair.
The Greek missing persons charity, Lifeline Hellas, issued a Silver Alert on Saturday after the police were unable to locate her.
‘Her life is in danger. If you know anything, contact the Silver Alert service, 24 hours a day, at the National SOS Line 1065,’ the alert said.
A Silver Alert is issued to notify citizens about the disappearance of elderly people, especially those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
The Daily Mail contacted the FCDO for comment on whether the UK Government was assisting in the search for Ms Bourda.
It comes after a 60-year-old British tourist went missing in June while on holiday in Greece.
His hired car was found abandoned on the island of Karpathos in 38C heat and he was last seen by the owner of his rented accommodation on June 27.
Meanwhile, fears are growing for a British woman who disappeared from a Spanish tourist hotspot last week.
Jennifer Frances Lacey, 41, vanished from the municipality of Vera on Monday, July 28.
Her disappearance was reported by the SOS Missing Persons Association on Thursday and she is described as measuring 5ft 2in, having curly brown hair, blue eyes and wearing prescription glasses.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘We are supporting the family of a British woman who was reported missing in Spain.’
At least ten foreign tourists were found dead or disappeared last year in Greece while going for a hike, often in high temperatures, the New York Times reported.
It also comes days after the search for an elderly British man who went missing on a trip to ancient Turkish tombs ended in tragedy.
Following a three-day search in and around the ancient tombs of Kaunos in Turkey for the 79-year-old, investigators found a body.
The man was reported missing by his daughter, who he travelled with to Çandır, a village in Muğla’s Köyceğiz district in southwestern Turkey, for a holiday together on July 26.
At 10.30am that day, her father began a trip by rowboat to the nearby rock-cut temple tombs of Kaunos, also known as the Lycian rock tombs, but she lost contact with him and has not heard from his since.
Following his daughter’s report, Turkish authorities launched a search for the man with a 19-person team, consisting of the Köyceğiz Gendarmerie District Command, Muğla AFAD and an NGO.
An investigation is now underway to understand exactly how the man went missing.
