Emiliano Sala's family hopeful as private search begins in Guernsey
Two fishing boats renewed the search on Saturday following a crowdfunding appeal
Monday 28 January 2019 10:46, UK
The family of missing footballer Emiliano Sala arrived in Guernsey on Sunday and remain hopeful of a new search finding him.
Sala's mother Mercedes and sister Romina have met marine scientist and family spokesman David Mearns, who has overseen the search for the plane, and Guernsey harbour master David Barker.
The Cardiff City striker's family thanked donors for their "exceptional generosity" as the GoFundMe page set up to fund the private search for Sala and pilot Dave Ibbotson surpassed the €300,000 target.
Sala's family have refused to give up and his mother and sister were among relatives who flew to the island's airport at the weekend.
The search resumed on Saturday after a GoFundMe appeal passed its €300,000 (£259,000) target.
Two fishing vessels, which had been assisting with the official search, returned to the English Channel.
Mearns, who is helping organise the new search, said on Sunday: "The family still has some hope and until we're talking about a missing person, until they're satisfied, that's the mode that we're in.
"They don't know the environment, they don't know the geography, this is a family that has come from Argentina with this huge shock out of nowhere and are struggling with very few answers about what's happened about an unexplained loss."
More than 4,000 people have donated to the page on the GoFundMe site including France forward Kylian Mbappe, former West Ham midfielder Dimitri Payet and Leicester City winger Demarai Gray.
