The concerned wife of a County Durham man who has been missing for more than a week has appealed to anyone with information to get in touch as she desperately tries to find him.
Michael Rae, 33, who is originally from Peterlee, County Durham, left his Hartlepool home on Saturday evening, August 13, to go to the shop but never returned. He was spotted on Sunday morning in the town's Seaton Lane but has not been seen since, Teesside Live reports.
His family, including his devastated wife Nicola, believes someone, somewhere must know where Michael is but they are worried he may have suffered some sort of mental breakdown. She said her husband has been very unwell, both physically and mentally and underwent heart surgery in July.
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He also takes 23 tablets a day for his health conditions and does not have any of them with him. Nicola said: "He must not be in his right mind, because there is no way he would torture me and the kids like this, he wouldn't do it, especially to the bairn."
The couple, who have four children between them, aged 33 to nine, have been married for 10 years and Nicola said just recently Michael has booked and paid for them to have their vows renewed at Gretna Green next September. She said: "He wouldn't have done that if he was planning to leave me. People might say he has just gone off, but I know my husband and he has not done that."
Police, family, friends, and a lot of strangers, have all been out round the clock searching for Michael, but sadly there has been no more confirmed sightings. Nicola, 53, said: "We are absolutely out of our minds with worry. We are absolutely exhausted."
Nicola said her older children and their partners have been searching through the night, having a few hours sleep and then back out again in a bid to find Michael. She said her husband originally hails from Peterlee and there have been people looking around that area as well.
She said: "It is the not knowing that is the worst thing. But, I will never give up on him. Someone must know where he is. If he's not ready to come home that ok, we just want to know he is alright." She said Michael has gone missing for a couple of days before to clear his head, but always lets her know he is ok.
Michael, who also has epilepsy, had his third heart surgery in July and Nicola said he didn't recover as well as they had hoped. She said: "He barely eats, he has lost so much weight and his face is sunken in."
She said as well as his heart and epilepsy medication, he also takes blood pressure tablets and pills for his mental health problems, which include anxiety, depression and paranoia.
She said on the last sighting of him he is carrying a fishing rod and that is strange because he gave up fishing a while ago and said he didn't enjoy it any more. She said his bank card hasn't been used, he had no food with him and he didn't take any other clothes than what he had on.
Nicola, who lives in Westbourne Road, Hartlepool, said scores of people have been messaging asking if they can help. She said: "He is such a nice, kind, caring person."
Michael is described as white, very thin with a pale complexion. He is around 5ft 9ins tall with short straight dark hair and wearing grey joggers, a black T-shirt and black trainers. A spokesperson for Cleveland Police said: "He does have links to Peterlee as well as Hartlepool and we’d ask anyone who has seen Michael or who knows where he is to contact Cleveland Police on the 101 number quoting ref 143517."
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