Police probe picture

Barmaid Heather Harris, aged 20, and design engineer Richard Perry, aged 28, are shown in the picture sitting in the 20ft Humber rigid inflatable boat before the accident at Bembridge Ledge, off the Isle of Wight.

Neither is wearing a life jacket. Miss Harris, of Woodfield Avenue, Wollescote, Stourbridge, is still missing a week after the boat was found snagged on a fishing buoy with no-one on board.

Mr Perry's body was pulled from the water by a coastguard helicopter soon afterwards and was identified by his parents.

But despite a massive search of the sea and coastline over the last week there has been no sign of Miss Harris, who works at The Forresters Arms pub in Wollaston.

The photograph released by Hampshire Police shows Miss Harris at the helm of the boat with Mr Perry, aged 28, of Victoria Street, Brierley Hill, in the back.

After the picture was taken the pair, who were staying at nearby Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park with Miss Harris' parents and boyfriend, went to look at a Royal Navy vessel in Sandown Bay.

"They were seen by crew members on the ship. After that it is believed they returned towards the beach at Whitecliff, but they were not seen again," said PC Bob Chambers, of the Marine Support Unit.

PC Chambers said it was being treated as a tragic accident but an appeal has now been launched on the Isle of Wight for members of the public to help piece together the missing minutes between their last sighting and when the boat was found empty.

Mr Perry's body was found last Wednesday shortly after a member of the public spotted his empty Humber RIB in water near Bembridge.

He was airlifted to St Mary's Hospital in Newport, where he was certified dead.

An extensive search by coastguards and police for Miss Harris was continuing today, according to police.

Mr Perry ran an engineering firm in Lye with Miss Harris's father Nick.