CLEVELAND mother Tracy Eather is desperate to find her 23-year-old son who went missing while whitewater rafting in Guatemala last week.
Electrician Michael Eather had been volunteering at a hostel near the Rio Cahabon River when he went missing on January 23.
For his family the last week has been a nightmare, trying to get information and communicate with authorities and Mr Eather’s friends in Guatemala.
“As parents, his father Brett and I need Michael found,” Mrs Eather said.
“But it’s really hard to know what needs to be done to find him.”
The search for the former Alexandra Hills High School and Carmel College student is hampered by the dangerous terrain and the remoteness of the location.
The Guatemalan military and police, together with Red Cross, hostel employees, including two divers, and volunteers, including Mr Eather’s travel companions, are involved in the search.
“We want to say ‘thank you’ to Michael’s close friends who are living in it minute by minute. It must be so hard for them.
“We are so thankful for them and their families. They are physically, emotionally and mentally drained,” she said.
Mrs Eather said phone and internet services at the hostel had not been working and she had struggled to find experts who could give advice or help find Mr Eather.
On Thursday she had contacted a private helicopter operator in Guatemala City, seven hours drive away from the place where Mr Eather went missing, that would be contracted to assist with the search.
The family was also trying to buy or hire specialist camera equipment that could be used to search undercurrents in the river.
Fundraising efforts through a GoFundMe page raised more than $25,000 in just two days.
Mrs Eather said the helicopter search could cost up to $10,000.
“We have also funded and posted a reward for his location for villagers along the river,” she said.
Grateful for her son’s friends and other volunteers who were helping with the search, Mrs Eather said she was relieved that a whitewater rafting business owner had provided them with advice on how to stay safe while searching.
“They are risking their lives and we don’t need another person lost.”
She said her priorities were to find search and rescue experts who could provide advice and contacts to get the communication network at the hostel working.
“Brett and myself and Michael’s brother Brendan and sisters Jasmine and Cassandra are very appreciative of the interest and help from people.
“Michael is very much liked and loved and respected by many people.”
Mrs Eather said she understood her son and a friend had gone whitewater rafting on an inner tyre tube.
One of her son’s friends contacted her on social media about the accident last Wednesday.
Mr Eather left home in August and had travelled from Canada, through the United States and into South America.
He had been helping with construction at the hostel at the time of the accident.
Mrs Eather said he had planned to be away for at least 12 months.
“He had no date to come back. His plans were to travel for as long as he was able.”
Mrs Eather said a Facebook page named Search for Michael had been set up to provide updated information about the search.
