Retired Royal Marine calls for "co-ordinated effort" to find missing veteran

[dutchman]

Robert Mason, from Nuneaton, went missing after arriving at work in Holbrooks



A former Sergeant Major from the Royal Marines says that police need to do more in their efforts to find a missing veteran.

It has now been eight days since Robert Mason walked out of work in Coventry and has not been seen or heard from since.

The 39-year-old, who is from Nuneaton, was last seen at the Meggitt site in Holbrook Lane at 9.12am on Monday, June 11.

Some searches have been carried out, including one by Warwickshire Search and Rescue and another by a former member of the armed forces who works with veterans to get them involved in community projects in Coventry.

And now another veteran has spoken out saying that a "co-ordinated" search needs to be set up that involves police and anyone else wanting to lend a hand.

Retired Sgt Major Jeff Williams, who helps run Veterans United Against Suicide, said: "It has been eight days now. We are in touch with Robert's family and they are broken and very distraught - it was Father's Day on Sunday.

"We are being told to back off by police and I would be very interested to know what their strategy is.

"Robert has no money, phone or keys on him. I know some search and rescue teams have been deployed, but there needs to be a co-ordinated attempt to find him."

Mr Williams also believes that if this was a case of a missing child it would have been more widely publicised by police, but the tale of a missing former soldier is not as "favourable".

He said: "It hasn't been on the TV once. If it was a young child it would be all over the television. But as it's a veteran it doesn't seem to be as favourable.

"It's about time we went to find him. If there's a co-ordinated effort I can get people on the ground quite quickly."

It is believed that Robert was wearing a dark fleece, dark trousers, a black cap and carrying a rucksack at the time he went missing.

He is described as white, 5ft 8ins tall, of slim build, with dark coloured hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with any information on Robert's whereabouts is asked to call Warwickshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 425 of June 11.

[dutchman]

Missing Nuneaton man found after weeks of searching

A man missing from Nuneaton has been found "safe and well", after nearly a month of searches.

Concerns were first raised for the safety of Robert Mason when he disappeared from Meggitt Aerospace on Holbrooks Lane on June 11.

As the days went by with no sign of the 39-year-old, a number of specialist searches were carried out.

A number of fellow armed forces veterans organised searches for Robert from June 15 onwards, with people travelling from as far as Scotland to help with the searches.

Yesterday evening Warwickshire Police confirmed that thankfully, Robert has been found. A spokesperson said: "We are pleased to report missing Nuneaton man Robert Mason has been located safe and well.

"Thank you to everyone who shared previous appeals."