Vice Governor Pichet repeated the main details of how Ms Lange came to be missing, namely that she was staying in a separate room from family members, giving her the freedom to come and go without disturbing other family members, and she liked to go walking each morning.
Ms Lange suffers from Alzheimer’s, but was taking medication for her condition, he said.
Search officers have confirmed that Ms Lange left her hotel room at 8am last Monday. She was wearing a blue sleeveless shirt and gray jacket, which CCTV showed that at time she carried the jacket instead of wearing it. After leaving the hotel she was seen walking towards the beach.
Ms Lange was seen on CCTV walking back from the beach, but then turning south. She was last recorded on CCTV at 11am near the Phuket Marriott Resort and Spa, Nai Yang Beach.
“At that time she was walking strongly and still wearing the blue sleeveless shirt. After that, there has been no sign of her. No CCTV cameras in the area recorded any images of her,” V/Gov Pichet said.
The major search efforts to find Ms Lange have so far failed to find her, or discover any leads as to her whereabouts, V/Gov Pichet said.
Search efforts have scoured the beach areas, especially onshore from Koh Pling at Nai Yang, where Ms Lange was found on May 5 the last time she wandered off, and expanded to local roads and jungle paths in Sirinath National Park.
A Royal Thai Navy helicopter brought in yesterday scoured more than 20km of coast from Tha Chatchai all along Mai Khao Beach, and covering the area up to a kilometre offshore, but found nothing, V/Gov Pichet said.
Blue debris in the water reported by a local fishermen was identified to be the remains of an inflatable rubber ring, V/Gov Pichet confirmed.
The helicopter will continue search efforts today, V/Gov Pichet added.
On land, search efforts will be focused on local roads and pathways again, and trails in Sirinath National Park ‒ as well as local waterways, V/Gov Pichet said.
More people are joining the search efforts, said Thalang District Palad Panchapong Boonchan.
“More members from local communities will join the search, again searching beach and forest areas near their communities,” Mr Panchapong said.
Sorasak Rananan, chief of Sirinath National Park, said park officers will lead search efforts within the park and continue to use rubber dinghies to search rocky areas along the coast that are difficult to reach by foot.
The coastal search by park officers today will cover the shore from the park main headquarters at Nai Yang all the way down to Layan Beach, Mr Sorasak said.