British woman missing in Omodos, despite sighting

POLICE have expressed concern over the disappearance of Pauline Ann Pidcock, a tourist who went missing on Wednesday night near Omodos village and was still nowhere to be found, despite the combined efforts of local police, fire fighters, game wardens, forestry officials and residents.

The 64-year old, who suffers from epilepsy, was reported missing by her husband.

The couple were holidaying in Cyprus and were visiting the village as part of a group tour.

“This disappearance is indeed baffling and we are concerned,” said Limassol police spokesman Ioannis Soteriades, promising that authorities will do everything in their power to find the missing woman.

Around noon on Thursday police got a tip that briefly raised hopes of locating Pidcock.

According to Soteriades, a woman was spotted wandering near Kourion, within the British Sovereign Base Area (SBA).

The woman was asking locals for directions to Omodos, he said.

Locals who spoke briefly to her and later called authorities said the woman bore a striking resemblance to Pidcock, whose photo has been released to the media.

A search was mounted for several hours in the area, but called off at dusk. The search would resume at first light on Friday, Soteriades said.

The initial search party had covered a four kilometre radius from the Omodos village park, where Pidcock was last seen.

According to police, she had opted to stay behind at Omodos while the group went on a tour.

Police had also searched her hotel room in Paphos where they found all of her belongings, including her medication.

Pidcock is wearing a blue bike helmet to protect herself from hitting on the ground during seizures. She is slim, 1.67m tall, with light brown hair. She was last seen wearing a dark blouse, grey shorts and a blue scarf.

Anyone with information on her whereabouts is requested to call the police toll-free line 1460 or contact the nearest police department.

This is not the first time the woman has gone missing. According to her husband, Pidcock had disappeared for a couple of days when back in England.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.