The search for retired doctor Tom Doherty who went missing during a hike in the French Pyrenees has been called off after five days without success, according to French prosecutors.
A search had been launched for the 67-year-old from St Albans after he disappeared during his solo trip last week, but efforts had been hampered by poor visibility.
On Monday the prosecutors office in Foix told AFP that operations “have been suspended”.
“After five days, we haven't managed to find him,” a representative said, adding that an investigation into the man's disappearance would continue.
Police had been sweeping the area with the help of sniffer dogs and a helicopter between Wednesday and Sunday.
His distraught wife Anne Lyons said the family “panicked” when he sent two simple messages - “Help” and “I’ve fallen and cannot move” - after thick cloud had rolled in over the mountain range.
“We panicked. When I arrived in France, I hoped that they had found him and that we would be in the hospital,” Ms Lyons said.
“But in the afternoon with the fog, we lost confidence, especially for a 67-year-old man spending a second night alone in these conditions.”
Mr Doherty had reportedly been hiking in the Ariege region near the French border with Spain and Andorra, where there had been thunderstorms in recent days.
Ms Lyons has previously said the retired doctor “did not have the complete and necessary equipment” for hiking alone in the area and he “did not know the area well”.
The family were urgently trying to access his Apple account to try and pinpoint his location.
In a post on social media, a woman who said Mr Doherty was her uncle wrote: “We desperately need to access his Mac laptop which has been locked as we have tried his passwords too many times. We need to get into it.... so that we can look at the last location of his last photos on iCloud and try and get into his Find My.”
Mr Doherty and Ms Lyon owned a home in south-west France where he spent a large part of his retirement.
Ms Lyons, who was in France and involved in the search for her husband, said his grey Renault Clio had been found near Pouech de Gerac, near the Chalet de Beauregard.He was reportedly last seen at 12.30pm on August 6 near Etang de la Plede.
Mr Doherty, who is now a grandfather, set off on a four-day solo walking and camping trip in the Pyrenees. He has three daughters and one son.
His family believe he had been camping in the Col d'Escots area at the time of his disappearance last Tuesday.
His daughter Rachel Doherty previously said: “He was sending us a few pictures of the scenery and then on Tuesday afternoon sent us one of clouds coming over the top of a mountain. He said ‘bugger’.
“We told him to be careful and urged him to come down.
“The last time we heard from him was Tuesday. He told us he had fallen and couldn’t move. That’s all we’ve had since. The search party have found his car.
“We’re obviously very worried and extremely concerned for his welfare.”
According to his family, the retired doctor was a respected consultant of Tropical medicine who worked around the world and specialised in Malaria.
He has been described as an avid and experienced walker.
A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British man missing in France and are in touch with the local authorities.”
