CONCERN CONTINUES to mount for the elderly Irish tourist missing since Sunday in Tenerife.
Elizabeth Butler (68), who suffers from a mild form of Alzheimer's disease as well as diabetes, has not been seen since she disappeared from the lobby of the Esmeralda Playa Hotel in Costa Adeje just a hour after arriving from Dublin.
Members of her family, assisted by several Irish expatriate residents, have spent the past three days searching the area around the hotel and the nearby resorts of Playa de Las Américas and Los Cristianos in a bid to find her.
Posters with her photograph and description have been distributed by her two nieces, who travelled with her to Tenerife for the holiday and are growing increasingly anxious at her disappearance.
"Lizzie would always wait for one of us to accompany her if we were out anywhere. She was on her own for only a very short time in the lobby as we tried to sort out the luggage and check-in and I can only think that she may have felt very disoriented in the unfamiliar surroundings and might have wandered off," explained Mary Doyle, one of the nieces.
The elderly Kilkenny woman was carrying no money or her passport when she disappeared. Despite extensive searches of neighbouring districts nobody has seen her since 11.30am on Sunday.
The posters are being displayed at taxi ranks, as well as in bars, restaurants and shops. However, the high degree of local concern appears not to be matched by official interest. The family is disappointed at the level of formal police activity and the lack of coverage by the Spanish media. "It seems the police here do not tend to launch widespread search operations for Alzheimer's cases but hopefully now that Lizzie has been missing for so long they might step up the investigation," said her niece Olivia Doyle yesterday.
The authorities in Adeje insist that that "the protocol for such cases is being followed closely" and all police patrols and stations have been issued with photographs of Mrs Butler and are making inquiries.
Irish Consul in Tenerife Jaime Willis admitted last night that the situation is becoming more worrying. "Usually in such cases, the person turns up safe and sound within a few hours but Mrs Butler has been missing now for almost three days. It is of great concern that not a single piece of information has been received despite the publicity given to her disappearance," he said.