The parents of missing zoology graduate Rosie Johnson have travelled to the Isle of Wight to join the search for the 22-year-old.
Miss Johnson, whose disappearance is said to be ‘totally out of character’, vanished on Sunday evening from the island activity camp where she worked.
The alarm was raised after she failed to turn up for her shift as a field studies instructor the following day.
But a ground search for the former Glasgow University zoology student was not launched until almost 40 hours later.
Help find Rosie: The family of Rosie Johnson – seen here, her mother Julia and her brother and sister with a police liaison officer – join the search on the Isle of Wight last night
Missing: Rosie Johnson, 22, from Glasgow, went missing from a Little Canada PGL Adventure in Wootton where she worked as an instructor after graduating (right)
Huge search: Rescue workers in waterproof gear search on the Isle of Wight on Wednesday
Miss Johnson’s disappearance is said to be ‘totally out of character’
Last night her parents, David and Julia, and her brother and sister were on the island to join the search after apparently flying from their home in Banchory, Scotland.
David Johnson said: ‘It’s totally out of character for Rosie to go missing for any period of time.’
Miss Johnson lived in accommodation on the site of the PGL Little Canada adventure centre, as did her ‘on-off’ boyfriend Brendan Storer, 27.
She had been working there since February. Her social media page described her relationship status with Mr Storer as ‘complicated’.
Yesterday, dozens of police, coastguards and volunteers, assisted by a helicopter, scoured the coast near Wootton Creek, where she was last seen.
Residents were asked to check their outbuildings and boats as police said there was no evidence she had left the island.
Inspector Andy MacDonald, of Hampshire Police, said he believed Miss Johnson, the niece of a member of Scottish Parliament, was ‘not the victim of crime’, but admitted he was ‘seriously concerned’ for her safety.
A map shows where Miss Johnson went missing and where the search has been happening
Miss Johnson lived in accommodation on the site of the PGL Little Canada adventure centre (pictured)
Dozens of police, coastguards and volunteers, assisted by a helicopter, scoured the coast near Wootton Creek, where Miss Johnson was last seen
A search for the missing graduate, pictured in progress yesterday, was not launched for nearly 40 hours after she vanished
Mr Storer shared a Hampshire Police appeal for help solving Miss Johnson’s disappearance on Facebook yesterday with the message: ‘Please please please share.’
Describing their relationship, his sister, Charlotte, 29, from Shaftesbury, Dorset, said: ‘I would say boyfriend and girlfriend is a bit strong. Yes, they had kind of been together on occasions, but it was very casual and they just both went with the flow. Her reference to it being complicated didn’t mean anything sinister.’
One worker at the PGL centre yesterday said of Miss Johnson: ‘She is a popular, nice girl.
‘She seemed to have a lot of friends and this is totally out of character. The young workers here have a good time, but there is a lot of safeguarding… for the staff.’
He added that Mr Storer had not attended work yesterday and was believed to be helping the search.
PGL called police at 9.43am on Monday after Miss Johnson failed to show up for her shift. She was last spotted by a creek near the 50-acre site, which backs on to the water, at 10.15pm on Sunday.
Hampshire Police said hospital and CCTV checks were made on Monday, but it was not until 1pm on Tuesday – some 39 hours after Miss Johnson was last seen – that officers began a search.
Residents were asked to check their outbuildings and boats as police said there was no evidence she had left the island
Labour MSP Daniel Johnson is Rosie’s uncle and is one of a number of relatives appealing for information today
Police are hunting for Rosie who moved to the Isle of Wight four months ago to work as an instructor at this PGL camp
Coastguards said they were only asked to search on Tuesday afternoon.
Miss Johnson’s uncle Daniel Johnson is the Labour MSP for Edinburgh Southern.
He tweeted: ‘My niece, Rosie, is missing. Could anyone with information please contact the police.’
Inspector MacDonald said he could not reveal what Miss Johnson’s state of mind was on Sunday evening, but he added: ‘The information we have says Rosie has not been the victim of crime.
‘We are seriously concerned for her welfare. We have searched an extensive area with quite difficult terrain as there is forest and water – a real variety of challenges.
‘Information we have suggests Rosie is still on the Isle of Wight.’
He declined to answer when asked whether he believed Miss Johnson was still alive.
Retired PA Maureen Hailstone, 70, who lives next to Little Canada, said: ‘Police have been round to my house and looked in the garden and in the garage, it was a real shock.
‘I can’t imagine what her family are going through.’