The search for the missing US vice-consul James Hogan in Curacao has been stepped up. Two experts, one of them an FBI official, have been sent from the United States to join the investigation team on the Dutch Antilles island.

The Netherlands has supplied scuba divers and diving equipment for an underwater search in cooperation with the US navy. The Netherlands Forensic Institute is investigating traces of blood found on clothing that might have belonged to Mr Hogen. The clothing was found near Baya Beach.

The 49-year-old vice consul went missing on 24 September. His wife alerted the police on Friday morning after he failed to return from a walk the previous evening.

The police are keeping all options open. The case has been given top priority. The authorities are keen to solve the case after mistakes were made in the Natalee Holloway case. The US teenager went missing in 2005 on Aruba, another Dutch Antilles island. This case has never been solved in spite of an alleged confession caught on film.