The search for the body of missing Co Down man Martin Kelly will resume in the Province next month.
A diving operation on a date yet to be confirmed in September will focus on a weir in the River Lagan close to the Odyssey Arena, Martin's mother Karen said yesterday.
The Holywood woman, who has left no stone unturned in trying to trace her son s
ince he went missing in January, said she now believes the chances of finding him are "slight".
A number of previous dives in the Lagan have failed to return Martin's body.
"You cannot give up hope – that is about all there is now," she said.
Mrs Kelly described the past eight months as "a roller coaster of a journey", not least her recent four-week trip across Britain which she embarked on in July in a desperate bid to find her missing son.
Her venture had to be cut short, when heart problems surfaced and she was taken to hospital suffering from chest pains.
Mrs Kelly said she is now waiting for surgery but remains determined to find her son who was last seen leaving Pat's Bar in the docks area of Belfast on New Year's Day.
She believes he may have suffered a brain injury which has left him with no memory and may be in sheltered accommodation somewhere in the British Isles.
It also emerged at the weekend that Martin's case is to be featured in a national BBC documentary series focusing on the hundreds of people who have gone missing from their homes over the years.
The BBC-3 Runaways series is due to be broadcast later this year, and Mrs Kelly said she can only hope that it will help her search.
As well as interviewing the national Missing Person's Helpline's investigator and police, the programme will feature the Helpline's groundbreaking future progression imagery, which is used to show how people's appearances may have changed during their absence.
"I hope the programme will help – you have to have some sort of hope – it's my reason for getting up in the morning," said Mrs Kelly.
