A MISSING woman's pet dog joined family, friends and air, land and sea rescue teams yesterday to search for its owner.
Crystalla Dean, from Oban, was reported missing by her daughter on Friday with Police Scotland’s mountain rescue team and the HM Coastguard launching a large-scale search. Yesterday her pet dog Ripple joined the search around the Dunollie woodland.
It is believed that Dean, who has three dogs, may have gone missing while out walking with Ripple along a wooded path known locally as The Witches.
The 52-year-old was last seen at her home in Longsdale Crescent, Oban, around 8pm on Thursday. Her daughter reported her missing the following day when she discovered she had not returned home.
Police Scotland said the missing woman "has recently been dealing with some personal issues and her family just want to know she is safe and well".
A source at the search scene said: "One of the missing woman's friends said they thought she had gone out for a walk with Ripple, one of her dogs, but the dog came home without her. They brought Ripple out to see if the dog could get the scent and it wanted to go up the back of Dunollie. The dog could be seen, frantically searching the steep woodland, but there was no trace of the woman."
Meanwhile a Coastguard helicopter searched from the air and Oban RNLI Lifeboat carried out an extensive search from the water's edge. Emergency services had earlier carried out an overnight sweep of the area after being called out at 11.30pm on Friday.
Iain MacKinnon, Oban Coastguard station officer, said: "We were out at 11.30pm on Friday night until 3am and we covered the area from St Columba's Cathedral, along the Esplanade to Ganavan, but nothing was found. You cover the ground in the darkness, but there is always a chance you might miss something, so we have been searching again today.
The missing woman is described as white, around 5 ft 1” in height, with a slim build and curly hair which is dyed blue. It is believed she may be wearing a red top, jeans and boots.
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