Major update in search for sisters missing from Aberdeen for over a week

The case of two sisters who went missing last week in Aberdeen is not being treated as a criminal investigation, police have said.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, 32, disappeared a week ago after last being seen on CCTV at on Market Street around 2.12am on Tuesday, January 7.

They turned right down a footpath to Aberdeen Boat Club, on the River Dee, after crossing the bridge and they haven’t been seen since.

With no evidence the area, police have focused their efforts on the river as they search for the Hungarian sisters, who are described as white and of slim build with long, brown hair.

Although police are keeping an open mind about what happened, they have found no evidence that ‘suggests criminality or suspicious circumstances’.

There is also no indication of mental health concerns that may explain they disappearance, but they had recently been planning to move out of the rented flat.

Today Superintendent David Howieson said: ‘They may have come to harm. That has to be a theory in terms of access to the river.

‘But what we don’t have is any indication that a third party has been involved.’

Nothing had seemed out of the ordinary when the sisters last spoke to their mother on January 4, days before they disappeared, their triplet brother Jozsef said.

But police described their behaviour the day they went missing as ‘very out of character’.

Superintendent Howieson said: We don’t really understand why they seem to have left their home address and walked to this area in a fairly direct line before the CCTV footage of them is exhausted.

‘One of our theories has to be that they’ve entered the water for reasons unknown, and that’s why so much of our search activity is focused on the river, the river bank, and the harbour itself, but we’re not ruling out the fact that they may have left this area by means that we haven’t identified yet.’

Early this morning, search dogs, a helicopter and a marine unit were deployed to scour the area.

Superintendent Howieson said: ‘We remain extremely concerned for Eliza and Henrietta as our searches enter a second week.

‘Considerable efforts are being made to search the river and the surrounding area.

‘We have spoken to a number of people in the course of our inquiries, including overnight, a week on from when they were last seen.

‘We continue to examine all the available CCTV footage to try and establish the sisters’ movements in the early hours of Tuesday January 7.

‘We remain in regular contact with Eliza and Henrietta’s family in Hungary and continue to provide them with support.

‘We know our concern is shared by people across Aberdeen and the north east. I would urge anyone who may have information, which has not yet been passed to police, to get in touch.’

The sisters’ brother Jozsef asked for ‘respect’ in a statement released last week.

He said: ‘We kindly ask everyone for respect at this time. Please do not spread any fake news. We can only say what’s already been in the news.

‘The Scottish authorities are doing their job. The family is not in a position to give everyone separate information.’

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