Police sadly say they believe a ‘figure entering the water’ in additional CCTV footage they have reviewed is the missing 24 year old
Police investigating the disappearance of Hull man Sam sadly believe a figure seen on CCTV entering the water in the Victoria Dock area is him. The 24 year old was reported missing on Thursday, November 6 sparking widespread searches and appeals to locate him.
Since then, extensive enquiries have been undertaken including reviewing CCTV footage to trace Sam’s movements and location. In an update issued this afternoon, Humberside Police confirmed they have now seen additional video which “appears to show a figure entering the water” around 50 metres from the last confirmed sighting of Sam which took place less than ten minutes earlier.
It comes after Sam’s family posted an update on the Finding Sam social media page asking people to “stop searching” due to “some new information which has come to light”. The family added they are “thankful for everyone’s shares, comments and well wishes”.
The statement, which was posted on Monday evening, read: “Thank you everyone over the past 11 days who has aided in us searching for Sam. We would greatly appreciate if anyone currently searching could stop due to some new information which has come to light. We as a family are all thankful for everyone’s shares, comments and well wishes.
“We will post a proper update when we are ready to and would appreciate you could respect our privacy.”
Leading the search for Sam is Humberside Police Chief Inspector Owen Stafford, who said: “Our specialist teams have been engaged in the search for Sam over the last 12 days, conducting extensive lines of enquiry in an attempt to trace his movements and location.
“After receiving the report of Sam’s disappearance, officers were immediately deployed, and a search was launched. Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Patrol officers, specialist search officers, and our Underwater Search Unit have been engaged in efforts around the area to find Sam alongside partner agencies since he was first reported as missing.
“The last confirmed sighting we have of Sam was at around 12.10pm (Thursday, 6 November) on a path at Victoria Dock, Plimsoll Way. We have now retrieved further CCTV footage which appears to show a figure entering the water approximately 50m from this last sighting, at around 12.19pm.
“The camera is situated approximately 1km away from Plimsoll Way, looking towards the dock path where Sam was last seen. Due to the distance of the camera and the location of the figure, it’s incredibly difficult to confirm an identity however from our thorough enquiries we do believe this is Sam in the footage.
“Our Missing Persons officers have provided this update to Sam’s family and continue to offer specialist support. Our enquiries do remain ongoing, to continue to understand Sam’s movements and identify any additional information.
Our Underwater Search Unit remain out on the water and officers continue carrying out enquiries aided by information from the public. We continue to appeal to the two individuals seen in our CCTV appeal shared earlier in the week, as well as anyone else who has information that could assist us in the search for Sam.
“If you do have any information, please contact us on 101 quoting log 390 of 6 November. I want to reiterate my thanks to members of the public for their assistance in the search for Sam, and to everyone who has come forward with information, your help has been invaluable to this search.”