Extensive search operations conducted over several days have now been exhausted according to Faroe Islands emergency responders, shattering hopes to find any of the three persons alive that were reported missing earlier this week on the island Vágar.
Meanwhile, suicide is being publicly suggested with regard to at least some of the persons.
“The entire area around the locations indicated in the available information on the last known whereabouts of the missing persons has been thoroughly searched using all available means,” a police officer told this publication.
In two distinct cases reported around the same time, an unprecedented three persons were declared missing, one Mexican man and two South Korean women. The two women are sisters, police told news broadcaster KVF, citing South Korean authorities.
Both cases have been centered in and around the southwestern coast of Vágar, in the vicinity of the Trælanípan sea cliff and the Bøsdalafossur waterfall from the lake Leitisvatn a.k.a. the Lake Above the Ocean.
“Search teams were immediately deployed across the entire area and worked for several days, on land, at sea, and in the air,” the police officer noted earlier today. “At this point, all of the search options have been exhausted. Should any additional information of relevance be obtained, however, efforts will be resumed if appropriate.”
The backpack of the 68-year-old Mexican, Pedro Enrique Moreno Hentz, was recovered in the sea, according to police.
As for the two South Korean sisters, Soo Jung Park and Soo Yeon Park, no trace so far as per reports.
Meanwhile the owner of the land that covers the Trælanípan sea cliff, Gunnar R. Nattestad, said that his staff had noticed the two women for their unusual, thin white clothing as it looked rather unfit for the purpose of hiking in the area. Likewise the women reportedly made sure to avoid any company once they were there—notably having arrived by taxi rather than by rental car, which would have been more normal for foreign individuals arriving at the Trælanípan official entry point in the outskirts of Miðvágur.
Furthermore, according to police, the two sisters had one-way tickets to the Faroe Islands and no return tickets.
“I think they jumped off the cliff,” Mr. Nattestad was quoted as saying according to news outlet VP.fo. “This is tragic and sad,” he added. “We are very sorry about the situation.”
Other observers remained skeptical. “WHY would people come from such distant countries and to such a magnificent place on Earth just to… commit suicide?!” one reader commented on social media.
Clearly, for anyone falling down 142 meters (466 feet) from the Trælanípan—if indeed that is what happened—it would mean certain death.