WA: Father in law learns of ended Swiss canyon search via Net

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2000
WA: Father in law learns of ended Swiss canyon search via Net

By Selina Day

PERTH, April 3 AAP - The father-in-law of a young woman presumed killed in the Swiss
canyoning disaster said today he was angry Swiss authorities had not told him a second
search for her had been called off.

Instead Gary Redmond learned of the cancellation via the Internet.

Mr Redmond's son Scott, 26, and Scott's wife Alisa, 24, were on a delayed honeymoon
when, with 12 other Australians, they perished in a flash flood as they canyoned down
a Swiss gorge last July.

Scott's body was found and sent back to his home town Perth but an intensive search
of Lake Brienz failed to find Alisa's body - the only one unaccounted for - and the search
was called off after 10 days.

Efforts resumed on Monday last week, almost eight months after being suspended. But
the operation was finally called off last Friday after underwater specialists who went
down to 90 metres had no success, according to Martin Trapp, the judge leading the inquiry
into the accident.

Mr Redmond said today he learnt the search for Alisa had ended only when he looked
up the Internet on Saturday morning after hearing no news about the resumed mission.

"I read it on the Net, which is appalling," Mr Redmond said.

"I'm wild. They just haven't given us a fair deal on this. It could have been handled
far more sensitively."

Mr Redmond said his "anger and barbs" were aimed at Mr Trapp, saying that when he met
the judge last year Mr Trapp had said authorities would do everything they could to find
all those missing after the disaster.

"I came away from there feeling quite confident," Mr Redmond said.

"But it smacks of tokenism, quite frankly, five days of searching after all this time,
and it's contemptible they would do this (call it off) without telling us and giving us
reasons."

"There could be very good reasons - I have no experience with Alpine lake rescues -
but it was an international incident and they should do everything in their power (to
find all those missing)."

Mr Redmond said his family and that of Sue Brooker, Alisa's mother, had been on tenterhooks
since the search was called off originally, despite recognising the 24-year-old honeymooner
had probably perished in the disaster.

"That poor lady's going through hell and they just didn't tell her," he said of Ms Brooker.

"There's no common decency (from the Swiss authorities), which would dictate that they
would make a call in advance before the world knew and just say, sorry, but it was futile.

"We've been hanging on a thread for eight months. We know she's not alive, but just
to hear it this way..."

Mr Redmond said he had had no contact with Swiss authorities about the matter, which
he put down to time differences, but said he had spoken this morning to the Department
of Foreign Affairs.

He said the families had been able to conduct a funeral service for Scott, but owed
it to him to do everything they could to recover his wife and bring her home so they could
be together again.

"It would have been her birthday on March 18. Milestone after milestone clicks by and
it doesn't make it any easier," he said.

"Sue has said we now have to find a box and put Alisa's wedding gown in it and bury
that with Scott's ashes."

Twenty-one people died in the July 27 canyoning trip in the Saxeten brook, near the
central Swiss town of Interlaken.

Those who perished along with the 14 Australians were from New Zealand, Switzerland,
Britain and South Africa.

Swiss authorities are investigating 11 people involved with the organisation of the
trip on suspicion of negligent homicide.

AAP/AP sd/ah

KEYWORD: SWISS RIVER REDMOND

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