A CROSS Inn, New Quay, woman has expressed her thanks to police, the emergency services and members of the public who “rallied round” after her 90-year-old father went missing in thick woodland on Thursday evening.

Don Davenport had taken Poppy, a nine-year-old labrador-retriever-cross, for an afternoon stroll when he became lost.

Daughter Philippa raised the alarm when the pair did not return, and following a search involving police officers, members of the Western Beacons Mountain Search and Rescue team and friends and neighbours, a weary Mr Davenport was eventually located by a police dog at about 1.45am – nine hours after setting out on his walk.

“He had taken the wrong path in the woods as they are so overgrown and could not negotiate the barbed wire fences,” explained Philippa. “He’s always had a strong survival instinct and that’s probably why I didn’t actually panic.

“The response was wonderful. People I’d never even met before came out to offer to try and help.

“Despite the horrible events that have been in the news lately, something like this shows you how people really do rally round when the chips are down – there’s a lot of humanity in this area; there’s a lot of humanity everywhere.

“The police – who are often unfairly criticised – were also fantastic.

“News that dad was missing was put out on Facebook and led to many of our neighbours, both near and far, searching outbuildings and fields.

“We reckon that at least 50 people helped in the search so to them I’ll be forever grateful.”

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