Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen in the early hours of January 7 in Market Street at Victoria Bridge in Aberdeen and now police searches of the River Dee have come to an end
Police searches in the River Dee in Aberdeen to trace two sisters who disappeared earlier this month have come to an end.
Eliza and Henrietta Huszti were last seen on January 7 at 2.12am in Market Street at Victoria Bridge. Their disappearance prompted a major search and rescue mission but officers have been unable to find the pair nearly three weeks on.
Police announced on Monday that “extensive and detailed searches” of the river and harbour had concluded, according to reports. But the force said wider inquiries to find the sisters are ongoing, including searches of coastal areas in the north and south of Aberdeen.
Earlier, officers said the two women had visited the bridge where they were last seen the day before their disappearance. They were seen at Victoria Bridge at around 2.50pm on January 6.
CCTV shows the sisters, who are part of a set of triplets, spent five minutes at the footpath and Victoria Bridge but did not engage with anyone else. It also emerged a text message was sent from Henrietta’s mobile phone to the sisters’ landlady at 2.12am on January 7, from the area of Victoria Bridge, indicating they would not be returning to the flat.
The phone was then disconnected from the network and has not been active since, police said. The following day, the sisters’ personal belongings were found in the flat and the landlady reported her concerns to police. After visiting the bridge on January 6, CCTV footage shows the sisters making their way through the city centre, via the Union Square shopping centre, back to their flat in the Charlotte Street area.
Police said there is nothing to indicate they left it again until shortly before they were last seen at the River Dee. When they were last seen on January 7 they crossed the bridge and turned right on to a footpath next to the river heading towards Aberdeen Boat Club.
Officers said there is nothing to suggest criminality or suspicious circumstances, and they have appealed for information. Superintendent David Howieson previously said: “We have carried out a significant trawl of public and private CCTV footage as we try to establish the sisters’ movements.
“Several hours of footage are being examined by a dedicated team of officers and we have so far established that Eliza and Henrietta were at the footpath next to the River Dee at 2.50pm on Monday January 6. Although the sisters didn’t engage with anyone else at this time, the area would have been busy and we are keen to speak to anyone who may have seen them.
“Please think back, did you notice anyone matching their description? After returning home, there is nothing to indicate that Eliza or Henrietta left their flat again until shortly before they were last seen at the River Dee. Extensive inquiries are ongoing and I would again stress there is nothing to suggest any suspicious circumstances or criminality.”
The women, who are both described as white and of slim build with long, brown hair, are originally from Hungary. One theory police are considering is that they somehow entered the water, and search efforts have been focusing on the River Dee and surrounding area. Police said there is nothing to suggest either of the women left the immediate area after 2.12am on January 7.
Mr Howieson said: “We remain in regular contact with Eliza and Henrietta’s family in Hungary and we will continue to provide them with support at this very difficult time. Searches will continue in the coming days and our officers will continue to do everything they can to find Eliza and Henrietta.”
It also emerged the sisters did not tell relatives they were “immediately” going to move out of their rented flat. In an interview with the BBC, their brother Jozsef said they did not inform their relatives of this decision – including during a phone call they had with their mother on the Saturday before their disappearance.
He said: “They wrote a message to their landlady that they wanted to immediately end their tenancy agreement. We didn’t have any information about that. So that’s the strange thing, that the girls didn’t tell us anything about that. They never mentioned any such plan.” Anyone with information is asked to contact scotland > Police Scotland on 101, quoting incident number 0735 of Tuesday January 7.
