Missing climber could be alive, says father

Donal Hickey

Having surveyed the terrain where he went missing in the Kilgarvan/Killarney area, they went onto the mountains in the afternoon and camped out overnight.

First Lieutenant Torbjorn Gillsparr, his former commanding officer, said there is a small chance the 23-year-old, who has not been seen for over two weeks, is still alive.

His former colleagues in the Swedish special forces, an elite commando-style unit, include one woman. A seventh person was due to fly in from Stockholm last night.

“Very good people have been searching. We can’t do it better. But maybe we can see things in the way he would have looked at them,” Lt Gillsparr said.

Mr Jansen has served in Kosovo, with the Swedish army and his specialist army training would stand to him, the former commanding officer said.

The Swedish group, some of whom are no longer in the army, are here at the request of Mr Jansen’s father, Sven, 57. Gardaí in Killarney stressed they were here in a private capacity and not part of an official Swedish army party.

Mr Jansen has not been seen since he set off from Kilgarvan for Mangerton Mountain, on December 29. An exhaustive search was carried out over four days by Kerry Mountain Rescue Team, a coastguard helicopter, gardaí, sniffer dogs and around 200 volunteers.

Mountain rescue team members yesterday briefed the Swedes, informing them about the terrain, dangerous spots, and the searches that had been carried out.

“We welcome them and will give them all the co-operation they need. It’s great to see his colleagues coming all the way from Sweden. We hope they find him,” leading rescue team member Tim Murphy said.

Mr Murphy said while the team’s search had been formally called off, individuals would continue to search and would not be satisfied until Mr Jansen was found.

The team has already said Mr Jansen has most likely suffered a fatal mishap. However, Mr Jansen senior, who is in Kerry, is still hopeful he is alive.

He said his son had practiced survival techniques in sub-zero temperatures and dismissed any possibility that he deliberately disappeared.

Mr Jansen has also criticised the Irish Government for not calling out the army to take part in the search.

Killarney Water Rescue plans to trawl some of the lake areas, at the weekend, and walking groups will also be out. The Kerry mountains have claimed one life already this year.

Well-known Cork hotelier Gerry O’Connor, a married father of three, fell to his death from Beenkeragh Ridge, near Carrantuohill, on January 3.

Meanwhile, Mr Jansen’s disappearance remains a mystery. At 7pm, on December 29, he sent a text message by mobile phone saying he was at the summit of Mangerton, on the bounds of Killarney National Park.

He also indicated he was going to Carrantuohill. He accessed his voice mail at 2.40am, but did not disclose his intended route. It is believed he set off walking in the darkness and the alarm was raised on Thursday evening, after nothing further had been heard.

The subsequent search, over 180sq km of rough terrain and in bad weather, was described as one of the most extensive in its 39-year history by the rescue team, which also called in rescue teams from other parts of the country. Sergeant Tom Tobin, Killarney, said everything that could possibly be done had been done and there would be further searches at the weekend.