The police don't seem to be asking for help. I imagine the reporter asked a few questions, including what people can do to help. The police are hardly going to say "No, please don't help" but they are not expecting a big public response.
This is more about the newspaper filling space than anything to do with the police. They have been told there was a search and eantbtonrort as much as they can, however flimsy.
I saw a report of a police search in a house a couple of years ago. It said the police searched window frames and the front garden. This did not mean the police were only looking in those two places, simply that these were the only bits the reporter could see.