Civil Defence Force personnel comb the trail leading to the jungle as they look for other leads.
SIBU: Members of a search team only have a set of human tracks as their clue to where a resident of Rumah Banying at Nanga Skua may have gone to and what has become of him.
Chaing Segat, 69, was last seen by his family on Oct 16, as he left the longhouse around daybreak.
His family members were worried about him after he had not returned home for days. They had earlier sent their own search party, but to no avail.
A relative of Chaing then lodged a police report over his disappearance and soon after that, a full-fledged search unit was set up on Sunday comprising members of the Civil Defence Force in Selangau and Sibu, police and their K9 Unit and fellow villagers.
The footprints along a trail leading to a jungle not far from the longhouse were first spotted by Chaing’s son during the operation, which was conducted after the ‘miring’ (Iban traditional ritual).
Chaing’s son was very convinced that the tracks were those of his father.
Members of the search party had searched the surrounding areas intensively, but there was no sign of Chaing.
A police spokesperson advised those who might have seen Chaing or know of his whereabouts to go to the nearest police station and report to the personnel-in-charge.