The devastated partner of missing Reece Rodger has told of the last conversation she had with him, as she revealed fresh details about his disappearance. Dad-of-two Reece, 28, was last seen by pals during a fishing trip at Loch Rannoch, Perthshire, at 11.30pm on March 18.
His partner, Paula Airzee, has said that Reece spent most of the day fishing on the north shore of the loch. He phoned his partner intermittently throughout the day, saying he was having a great time but complaining about the weather.
In a phone call made at about 4pm, he told Paula that he wanted to come home before changing his mind and saying: “I’ll be okay”. He continued to keep in touch, with the final call coming at 11.18pm and lasting just over a minute.
The conversation was cut short as Paula was working, and afterwards Reece’s phone was turned off. The friends that accompanied Reece on the trip say he wandered away from the group around this time.
They assumed he’d gone back to join another friend who was sleeping in a two-man camper van the group had brought with them. However, Reece was nowhere to be seen when the others came out from their tents the next morning.
In a post which was put in a Facebook group about the dad's disappearance on Saturday morning, Paula said: "Reece had a good phone signal and phoned me lots throughout the day. He said he was having a great time but was moaning about the weather as it was raining at points.
"In one phone call around 4pm he said ‘I think I want to come home’…. I’m like ‘here we go, phone your dad then’. He says ‘no I’ll be ok’. He phoned lots after this and he’s in a great mood (of course the rain had stopped).
"I last heard from Reece at 11.18pm. I was working and it was noisy. He just asked if I was ok and what was happening. I said ‘I’m fine, I’m still working’. The call lasted 1 min 4 secs. Reece’s phone went off at 11.19pm.
"Reece walked off from the boys at some point around 11pm. The boys assumed he’s gone back to the camper van to bed where one of the boys was already sleeping. It only sleeps 2. The others slept in a tent and a car.
"There was a potential sighting of Reece at 11.30/11.35pm on March 18. Two people in a car saw a male walking along the B846 between Liarn farm and Aulich. One got out to ask if the person needed assistance but the person was gone. We have no more leads after this."
Paula’s post included further detail’s on Reece’s personality – including the fact that he’s a “home bird” who “always wants to go home no matter where he goes”.
It read: “He’s a daddy to two little boys, who are four and one, and he’s my soulmate. He absolutely adores our boys as they do him. He’s really hardworking and committed to providing the best for us as a family.
“He’s the softest guy you’d meet. Pretends to be big and brave but then scared to answer the door. He locks the the door straight after closing it behind him – one of the things I love about him.
“Reece is the life and soul of a party, loves a joke and a dance. Most of all, he’s a home bird.“Always wants to go home no matter where he goes. I don’t know why this is, but it’s a thing he does. His dad and our eldest boy are exactly the same.”
Paula Airzee and mum Glenda appeared on Vanished: The Hunt for Britain’s Missing People, presented by Dan Walker, on Thursday night to make a further appeal for help to find Reece.
Those with information on Reece’s whereabouts should contact police on 101, quoting reference number 1348 of Sunday, March 19.
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