Desperate hunt for missing Brit, 71, who vanished on hike to croc-infested lake

A British hiker who went to a lake filled withman-eating crocodiles to photograph a hippo has been missing for a week.

Tourist Elaine McSorley, 71, was staying at a hotel in Mkhuze inSouth Africa’sKwaZulu Province with her husband Leon, 81, when the pair decided to go for a short walk to search for wildlife last Friday.

However Leon soon returned to the hotel, after finding the heat and distance overwhelming, leaving his wife to continue her walkalone. He raised the alarm after she failed to return after more than three hours and search parties have been combing the area around the lake since September 27.

Signs surrounding the Ghost Mountain Inn where the UK couple were staying warn visitors of the dangers of man-eating crocodiles in the area.

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Cops say her husband has now left, which has made it harder for them to build up an accurate picture of Elaine with regards to her hiking fitness and medical health.

The police chief in charge of the search says he does not know where Leon currently is. Staff at the Ghost Mountain Inn confirmed that he had returned to the hotel at 2.40pm, and there was a confirmed sighting of Elaine at 3pm when she asked a farmer for directions to a different area of the lake.

The area where she vanished is almost completely free of crime. Police said if she had died of natural causes she would have been found. Police suspect either foul play or a crocodile, but have no evidence of either.

A massive search effort has been launched with dogs, locals and helicopters joining officers in boats. Crocodiles kill around 1,000 people a year in Africa and can grow up to 20ft long.

“The British couple checked into the Ghost Mountain Inn at 1pm and went for a walk at 2pm,” Lieutenant Colonel Paul Magwaza of the SA police said. “According to the husband during the walk to the lake he decided to turn back and returned to the hotel but when she did not return he raised the alarm.

“We have been searching day and night but there is no sign of her. It is like she has vanished into thin air. The dogs have picked up no traces either. If she had simply collapsed and died we would have found her by now. There are theories as to what happened but I am not going to speculate” he said.

A member of the local Community Police Forum said: “It is a mystery as it is a very safe area for tourists and there is no sign of a crime having happened. The husband said she was going to the lake as there is a hippo there that likes to come out of the reeds to try and get a photo but he returned to the room.

“There are hotel signs warning of crocodiles which are in the lake and we are starting to have to look at whether she was ambushed and devoured.”