UPDATE - Police divers searching for missing man find body in Helford River
12:20pm Monday 16th July 2012 in Falmouth/Penryn
UPDATE MONDAY: 1200 (noon)
Police divers have recovered a body in the search for a missing man in the Helford River.
The body was recovered in the early hours of Sunday morning (July 15), near Durgan.
A police spokesman said that efforts to identify the body were continuing.
The search was sparked by the disappearance of 36-year-old sailor Kristian Selman last Wednesday night.
Mr Selman disappeared from view after being seen by a walker getting into difficulties while swimming towards the boat "New Moon", close to Glebe Rock. A large scale search operation was launched, led by coastguards, and involving the RNLI and police.
UPDATE: Friday, 10.40am
Rescuers hunting for a man who disappeared while swimming towards a boat on the Helford River have stood down their search this morning.
Coastguards, the RNLI and police have been carrying out a joint search for 36-year-old Kristian Selman since Wednesday evening.
Hopes of finding Mr Selman are now fading fast, however, after three further attempts to find him returned fruitless.
Mr Selman disappeared from view after being seen by a walker getting into difficulties while swimming towards the boat "New Moon", close to Glebe Rock.
UPDATE: Thursday, noon.
A man reported missing after he disappeared while swimming towards a boat on the Helford River has been named locally as 36-year-old yachtsman Kristian Selman.
Coastguards are still searching this lunchtime after fruitless searches in the early hours of this morning, between 5am and 8am, and last night.
The search will focus on the low tide and high tide marks.
Inspector Mark Richards from Devon and Cornwall Police, said: "We are looking for Kristian as he is not on his boat and there is some concern.
"At the moment we do not know whether he has fallen into the water, gone into the water, or gone elsewhere.
"It is fair to say we are quite concerned for the safety of this individual.
"There is a possibility there were two incidents down there last night. It may be that he has not gone in the water.
"We are looking for Kristian because he is not on his boat and we cannot find him. There is concern from his girlfriend.
Insp Richards said it was, "too early to say" if Kristian had drowned and that they will be carrying out exhaustive searches until they find him, adding he could "well be alive", "in the locality" and could have gone to work or be with friends.
His mobile phone and his boat the "New Moon" have been recovered.
Police are carrying out inquiries with his friends and family, with the inshore lifeboat and the coastguard continue carrying out the search.
UPDATE: Thursday, 10.15am
Hopes are fading for a missing man on the Helford River after he disappeared while swimming towards a boat.
Coastguards have scaled down a search for the man who disappeared while swimming to a dinghy at Durgan on the Helford River at about 6.40pm on Wednesday.
The man was reported to be shouting for help as he swam but then disappeared.
A spokesman for the Maritime & Coastguard Agency said: "The member of the public called Falmouth Coastguard at 6.41pm to report that they had seen a man in the water 200 metres off Grebe Beach. The man had then disappeared from view.
"Falmouth Coastguard requested the launch of the Falmouth RNLI lifeboats, along with the Rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, to begin a search of the area. They also sent the Falmouth Coastguard Rescue Team to the scene.
"Further investigations yielded that the missing man was seen to have come from the yacht New Moon. Other members of the public on scene reported that they had seen him in the water swimming after the dinghy belonging to the yacht.
"The dinghy from the yacht was subsequently located at the mouth of the Helford.
"At 7.30pm Falmouth Coastguard sent two further coastguard rescue teams, from Porthoustock and Porthleven, to assist in the search. At 9.36pm the helicopter was stood down owing to low fuel levels.
Coastguards are now reporting they carrying out searches on a smaller scale.
The family of the 36-year-old local man have been informed by police.
Do you have a picture of the search in progress. Contact the Packet Website at jonathan.millar@packetseries.co.uk or call 01326 213 328.
UPDATE: Thursday, 9am
Last night's search for a missing man on the Helford River continues this morning, after the boat his shouts were heard to come from was towed into harbour.
The alarm was raised at 7.55pm yesterday evening when a walker on the beach at Durgan heard shouts for help coming from the water and a man was seen trying to swim towards a dinghy in the river.
The unidentified man appeared to get into difficulties before disappearing from view.
Dozens of people were involved in the search as well as coastguard teams, the RNLI and a search and rescue helicopter from RNAS Culdrose.
The man is still missing as of 8.15am this morning.
