Nothing was found at the lake and divers moved to 60 Foot Falls in Mittagong to see if the area “was worthy of a search”. 

The search of the lake follows a two-day ground search of Mount Gibraltar and Mount Alexander by a team of 35 Police Rescue Squad officers and SES members.

The ground search has been called off for the weekend, but the investigation continues.

Bowral Police Inspector John Klepczarek said police had halted the search by foot to explore other avenues.

[Kathleen was captured on CCTV while at Mittagong Shopping Village on June 13, but has not been seen since. Photo: NSW Police]

Kathleen was captured on CCTV while at Mittagong Shopping Village on June 13, but has not been seen since. Photo: NSW Police

“We had the divers investigate Lake Alexandra as part of the search as we eliminate not only land but water for any items that could assist in the investigation,” he said.

“We’ve suspended the ground search as of Friday evening while we follow other lines of inquiry.”

Police have received several calls from the public since the investigation began on June 14, after Ms Lidden, 52, failed to return home on the evening of Tuesday, June 13.

“We will assess and evaluate all the information that’s been received and follow up on leads from that,” Inspector Klepczarek said.

Ms Lidden was last seen about 12.30pm on June 13 at Mittagong Shopping Village on Pioneer Street, where she was captured on CCTV footage.

She is described as being of Caucasian appearance with a thin build, about 160-165cm tall with short blonde/brown hair. She was last seen wearing a white scarf, yellow/cream coloured fleece jumper, grey track pants and carrying a brown bag.

Anyone who has seen Kathleen Lidden, or who has information about her whereabouts or that could assist police, should contact Bowral Police Station as soon as possible on 4862 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/

Information provided is treated in the strictest of confidence. Information should not be reported via police Facebook or Twitter pages.

Saturday, June 17:

Police divers begin a search of Lake Alexandra at Mittagong, as a process of elimination in their ongoing investigation.

Divers finished searching Lake Alexandra about 12pm. 

Sergeant Josh Lisle said the Lake was given the all-clear. 

“This was an area that had to be cleared and we didn’t find anything of interest,” he said. 

The divers headed to 60 Foot Falls in Mittagong on Saturday afternoon to see if the area “was worthy of a search”.

“We will head there as well as a couple of other places for the rest of today and probably tomorrow,” Sergeant Lisle said. 

Friday, June 16:

Police Rescue Squad and SES members continued a ground search of Mount Alexandra between Mittagong and Bowral, and in the afternoon moved around to search the base of Mount Gibraltar.

The ground search was suspended for the weekend.

Thursday, June 15: 

Police and SES began a ground search looking for leads in the disappearance of Kathleen, focused on Mount Alexandra in Mittagong.

Wednesday, June 14:

Initial investigations began with a PolAir helicopter on June 14, with an air search of Mount Gibraltar, Lake Alexandra and surrounding areas.

Tuesday, June 13:

Ms Lidden, from the Bowral area, was last seen about 12.30pm on June 13, captured on CCTV at Dan Murphy’s in Mittagong Shopping Village.

Kathleen runs an art class, which she did not show up for on Tuesday evening.

Inspector Klepczarek said that was very unusual for Kathleen.

“She runs an art class which she never misses, and she wasn’t at home for that,” he said.

Southern Highlands News