The search for a British woman who vanished from a Greek beach has intensified, with coastguard and police scouring land and sea. Michele Bourda, 59, was last seen on a sunbed at Ofrynio beach near Kavala on 1 August. Her Greek husband reported her missing after waking from a nap to find her gone, though her belongings remained.
The Hellenic coastguard, supported by pleasure craft and fishing boats, is searching the Strymonian Gulf. A coastguard official confirmed the operation is ongoing, with no plans to call it off despite three days having passed. Police are also conducting extensive land searches.
LifeLine Hellas, a Greek missing persons charity, issued a silver alert, often used for missing people with dementia. Bourda is described as 5ft 6in, slim, wearing a swimsuit with decorative stones, yellow water shoes, and red plastic sunglasses. The British embassy in Athens has also appealed for information.
Greek officials have not yet decided whether to continue the search-and-rescue operation beyond Monday. One official said, 'Hope dies last. Any scenario would be guessing at this point.' Even if the coastguard operation stops, land searches and regular patrol boats will continue.
Bourda is the second Briton to go missing in Greece this summer. Last month, 60-year-old Jay Arnold vanished on Karpathos island. Despite dogs, drones, and police searches, the case has gone cold. In June, Dr Michael Mosley died from heatstroke after going missing on Symi island.
