Missing climber's wife, daughter flying to Kerry

The wife and teenage daughter of missing US rock climber Michael Reardon are flying to Ireland tonight as the search continues for him off the Kerry coast.

Californian 33-year-old Michael, a world renowned free solo climber, plunged into the sea while climbing with friends north of Valentia Island on Friday evening.

Despite searches by the local lifeboat, Shannon search and rescue helicopter, coastguards, cliff rescue teams and local people until dark and since first light today, there has been no sighting of him.

Reardon's wife Marci and his 13-year-old daughter were flying overnight to Ireland and are set to arrive in the morning.

He had been in Ireland with a photographer who had been taking pictures of him climbing for an American magazine.

Con Moriarty, whose house he had been staying in, said the climber had been standing on a ledge having completed a climb when he was hit by a wave and slipped into the sea.