The dog in the footage has still not been confirmed as Astra. Establishing that, the family say, comes before everything else.
Footage is now sought above all from East Sheen Avenue and Upper Richmond Road, and the family want to establish whether the woman entered Palewell Park without a dog and left with one. The specialist tracking dog has been working Palewell Park with the family through the afternoon, and volunteers are working to identify the woman, with efforts under way in Roehampton, Putney and around Clapham Junction, so far without a confirmed identification, so that she can be traced or the sighting ruled out. Two earlier strands have closed: CCTV at the Chiswick gym showed nothing, and Thames Water has inspected and ruled out the tunnels along Beverley Brook — and will fit grilles to them.
The search for Astra, the black Labrador who slipped away from a dog walker near Palewell Park on Tuesday evening, has entered a new day. She has now been missing for three nights, and the community effort to find her, far from fading, has grown more organised overnight.
In the early hours of this morning, a thermal-imaging drone flew over the park and its edges at 2am, when the area is at its quietest and a heat signature is easiest to pick out. The operator reported hearing a dog barking somewhere near the edges of Palewell but could not trace where it was coming from, which the family say suggests a dog under something or inside somewhere. They are now asking residents whose homes back onto the park whether their own dog was barking at around 2am, so the sound can be ruled in or out.
The family were back at the park at first light. Today’s search focuses on Richmond Park between Sheen Gate and Roehampton Gate, along the routes Astra usually walks, and a specialist tracking dog is due to join the effort this afternoon. Those leading the search continue to ask people to stay calm and quiet rather than move in large, noisy groups, as a frightened dog is far more likely to come out when the area around her is still.
The search’s central lead is now a sequence of footage from Tuesday evening. Doorbell clips from Enmore Gardens, captured minutes after Astra went missing, show a black Labrador walking beside a woman pushing a pram loaded with belongings; further footage and witness accounts then place the woman, the trolley and the dog boarding a 337 bus near Thornton Road at about 5.50pm, heading towards Clapham Junction. She is reported to have asked the driver for help reaching Clapham Junction and not to have paid for the journey. The dog has not been confirmed as Astra, and the woman may simply have been walking her own dog.
To settle it, the family are appealing for doorbell and CCTV footage from East Sheen Avenue, Palewell Park Road and Richmond Park Road between 5.30pm and 5.50pm on Tuesday, and want to hear from anyone who was on that bus. A report has been filed with the Metropolitan Police, and the search now runs on two fronts: volunteers working the bus route into Clapham Junction, and the tracking dog at Palewell Park.
One earlier report is also being checked. A tennis coach has told the family he saw a dog at the riverside gym in Chiswick at around 10.48am on Wednesday. It is unconfirmed, and the family have asked the gym to review its CCTV. It is the second unconfirmed report from the Chiswick direction since Astra went missing.
The scale of the search is now remarkable. Posters have gone into schools and nurseries across East Sheen and Barnes; stables and riding groups, including Operation Centaur, have alerted their riders, whose high vantage covers ground dog walkers cannot; gyms, allotments and building sites are being checked; and the co-ordinating group, more than 250 strong, gained new members through the night, some from overseas.
Thursday’s day-long search, and how it unfolded, is here.
If you see her
Astra is a black Labrador with unusually pale, amber eyes. She may be wearing a red collar, but it can come off if it snags, so a black Labrador with no collar should not be ruled out. She is microchipped and local vets have been alerted. If you see her, do not approach, chase or call out to her — a frightened dog tends to go to ground. Note where she is and call Lisa on 07824 822021. It is also worth checking gardens, sheds and garages, where a nervous dog may have tucked herself away.
We will update this page as the day goes on.
