Gareth Jones, 69, a married father of three and a former head of HR at the BBC under Greg Dyke, has been presumed to be drowned in his efforts to save his dog, a cockapoo named Connie, who is also presumed to have drowned. Security camera footage showed him being swept out to sea as he tried to rescue his dog.
The CCTV footage showed him throwing a ball for his dog Connie. When she got into trouble, Mr Jones tried to rescue her but they were both swept out to sea. He was last seen, it is believed, on Saturday at about 1pm walking along Basin Road South in Southwick. Connie was wearing a red harness.
His family alerted the police at about 7:30pm as they became concerned that he had not returned and it had become dark. They organised a search party of more than 150 volunteers to search the seafront at Hove, East Sussex.
The Sussex police, coastguard helicopters and lifeboat crews all joined the search without success, currently. Police scaled down the search because it was presumed that he had died with his dog in the sea. The search continues by police officers and volunteers along the coastline.
Mr Jones is from Cardiff. He was a professor at the London School of business in 1992. He wrote a book about management called Why Should Anyone Be Led by You?
His Son, Ritchie, 24, told The Times that he was very active, loved tennis and was an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan.
Comment: the overriding feeling that I have is one of sadness and admiration at the same time. He was playing with his dog perhaps at the water’s edge. In a flash it went wrong and Mr Jones risked his life to save the life of his beloved dog. This shows an incredible relationship. The risk to his life resulted in the loss of his life. They are together in the memory of those he leaves behind.
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