Family hunt for tourists who handed in backpack of hiker missing from Giant’s Causeway

20-year-old Lester McLennan travelled to the Giant’s Causeway area on 1 November - (Police Causeway Coast & Glens)

The family of a missing hiker are looking for two tourists who found his backpack after he vanished on the Giant’s Causeway.

Lester McLennan, 20, travelled to the world-famous rock formation from Belfast by bus at 9.30am on Friday 1 November.

He hasn’t been seen again.

His mother, who had joined him on the trip from south London to visit family in Northern Ireland, raised the alarm when he failed to return to their Belfast accommodation from the trip.

Two hikers hand in a rucksack at the Giant’s Causeway (The Giant's Causeway)

“I think we’re looking for his body now,” his devastated mother Lalitha McLennan told UTV.

“I really want to know and I can’t do anything until I know.”

Ms McLennan believes two tourists who discovered Lester’s backpack might have information which would help widen the search.

The last known sighting of Lester McLennan as he appears to board a bus from Belfast (PSNI)

“I don’t know where they come from with that bag, and if it was really near or if it was eight miles down the road. If it was eight miles down the road, then we could look at eight miles down the road thoroughly,” she said.

“He was excited to see the Causeway.

“He’d been up the West Highland Way in the summer.

“He likes hiking and natural spaces and was really keen to see it.”

Lester McLennan was last seen in the area of the Giants Causeway November 11 (Bangor Coastguard Rescue Team)

A family friend shared a picture of the two men handing in the backpack, adding: “We think the hikers were probably visiting from England or further afield. We do not know who they are or where they found the backpack.

“It’s vital that we find out where they found the rucksack to help with the search.”

Police described Lester as a white male, 6ft 3in tall, of slim build with light brown hair, who was wearing black glasses, light beige trousers with a dark belt, walking boots, a long grey coat to below the knee and a dark zip-up jacket. Lester was also carrying a black backpack.

Lester was carrying a black backpack on his hike (Missing People)

The Giant’s Causeway is visited by around a million tourists a year and was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1986.

The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff and disappear under the sea.

According to legend, the columns are the remains of a causeway built by a Gaelic giant so he could cross the channel and fight a Scottish giant.

Police are appealing to Lester or anyone who may have seen him on 1st or 2nd November to contact them in Coleraine on 101, quoting reference number 76 02/11/24