Shocked husband ‘hoping and praying’ wife will be found
THE husband of missing woman Tina Satchwell said he is “shocked” at the major Garda search operation in Cork woodland for his wife.
Richard Satchwell added that he is still hoping and praying that she would be found safe and well.
Mr Satchwell was personally briefed by Midleton gardaí on their plans for a major threeweek search for his wife in Mitchell’s Wood, outside Castlemartyr, in east Cork.
Yesterday he said the news left him “shocked and numbed” and with “butterflies” in his stomach.
Mr Satchwell said he “finds it difficult to put into words” how he feels, given the potentially ominous turn in the Garda investigation.
The English-born truck driver also said he was “very upset” by false rumours and speculation on social media over the weekend that his wife’s body had been found.
Some social media sites had tributes posted to Ms Satchwell with comments like “RIP”.
“I am extremely disappointed and upset,” he told TV3.
“(But) I am still hoping Tina will be found safe and well.
“If you don’t have hope, you don’t have anything.”
Mr Satchwell also stressed that he had never been in the Mitchell’s Wood area of Castlemartyr in his life. But the worry over his wife’s disappearance has left him “sick”.
“I didn’t sleep a wink last night,” he said.
The truck driver appealed for his privacy to be respected, warning that he was dealing with callers to his home from the early hours of the morning.
He reported his wife missing four days after he last saw her on March 20, 2017.
He left their home on an errand that day and his wife was not there when he returned.
Mr Satchwell said his wife was depressed at the time and he thought she had gone to her family home in Fermoy to spend time with her relatives. He has repeatedly insisted that Ms Satchwell would not attempt to harm herself, though he acknowledged she was dealing with personal problems.
It was also claimed that €26,000 the couple had earned from the sale of a property had gone missing from their home in Youghal when she disappeared.
Mr Satchwell insisted he had nothing to do with his wife’s disappearance – and said he believes she left Youghal to deal with personal issues, possibly with the help of someone else.
“My wife is going to turn back up or she is going to get in touch with the gardaí. One way or another this will all come out and, in time, it will [be shown] that I have done nothing,” he said.
“I have been with my wife for 28 years – [I have tried to provide] a good, quiet, loving marriage and nothing else.
“I have never once in nearly 30 years of being together laid a finger on her – the most I have ever done to her is have a tight cuddle.”
He has repeatedly appealed to her to return home and insisted he will welcome her with “open arms”.
“She is my daylight – she has been my life since meeting her, even before I spoke to her.”