Divers search Amsterdam canals for missing Scottish tourist

By Janene Pieters on November 23, 2015 - 14:37
chris-nelson
Chris Nelson, missing in Amsterdam since November 15th, 2015 (Photo: Politie). (Chris Nelson, missing in Amsterdam since November 15th, 2015 (Photo: Politie))

Divers searched the waters of the Oudezijds Voorbugwal in Amsterdam on Sunday, looking for missing tourist Chris Nelson, who's been missing in the city since November 15th. The search was to no avail, the 24 year old Scotsman is still missing.

Chris Nelson was last seen around 05:45 a.m. on November 15th, when he went for a walk from Recht Boomsloot in Amsterdam. He was wearing gray jeans, a white Nike T-shirt with colored print on the front and a black jogging jacket with a hood. He never came back from his walk and hasn't been seen since. According to Het Parool, Sunday's search was organized by volunteers from the foundation RHWW, which has been searching for missing persons since 1989. There was no specific information that indicated that Nelson fell into the water. Last week volunteers also searched other parts of the city, such as Recht Boomsloot, where Nelson and his fiancée Stephanie Kollross were staying with a friend until he disappeared. Friends and family members plastered the capital with missing flyers after his disappearance, also spreading information through social media. The Amsterdam police received several tips from people who think they saw the Scottish tourist, but nothing that led to finding him. According to the newspaper, the police are currently analyzing his phone data and camera footage to try and retrace Nelson's whereabouts. The police are searching the Rechtboomsloot with a sniffer dog on Monday. If the dog finds a trace, the police will search the canal with sonar equipment. Nelson's mother Donna Nelson recently told BBC that she received a few text messages from Chris shortly before he disappeared, she called them "a bit worrying". "He has been a bit homesick lately and he was missing his sisters. Him and Steffy (the fiancée, ed) are coming back for Christmas, and he was saying how desperate he was to get back home and see us all again", she said to the BBC "The texts concerned me a little because of the time in the morning."

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