Volunteers intensify search for teenager missing in Tver region since August

Volunteers have intensified the search for a teenager missing near Zinaidovo in Russia's Tver region. Sova search coordinator Olga Bystrova told RIA Novosti that autumn cold had made difficult woodland terrain more accessible.

Bystrova said tall grass had partly flattened after low overnight temperatures, easing access across difficult ground with wet areas. On Wednesday, search teams worked near territory they had examined earlier.

The teenager went missing on August 15, and his parents reported the disappearance on August 16. The Investigative Committee said the boy, born in 2011, was last seen near Zinaidovo in the Rzhev municipal district. A criminal investigation was opened.

Dog teams trained to locate the dead are taking part. Bystrova stressed that this did not mean volunteers had given up hope of finding the boy alive: the team was continuing to examine every possibility. Volunteers are also gathering information with law enforcement.

Dog handlers and senior search-team members are due to return on Thursday. After examining the area, they will decide whether a larger volunteer search is needed at the weekend.