138 days on, Thomas Stewart still on the missing list

Thomas Stewart, the 59-year-old man who has been missing since 20 May, is still nowhere to be found.

Contacted by The Malta Independent, his wife, Phyllis Stewart said that despite her efforts and a reward which was also set up to encourage people to approach her, no one seems to have sighted her husband.

Mrs Stewart had explained the details which led to her husband’s disappearance, who was reported missing after escaping from Mount Carmel. She had highlighted the lack of support provided by the local police in their effort to find the missing man.

But Mrs Stewart, who came to Malta together with her husband a little over a year ago, still cannot believe or start to understand why her husband was admitted to a mental hospital in the first place.

She had told this newspaper that her husband is of sound mental health but was still taken to Mount Carmel. According to Mrs Stewart, her husband is diabetic, but mentally sane.

The belief that the police are not doing their job properly led her to file a judicial protest against the Minister for Health, Police Commissioner and the Chief Executive Officer in charge of Mount Carmel Hospital.

The judicial protest was filed as Mrs Stewart believes that her husband’s disappearance is the result of negligent behaviour by the authorities at Mount Carmel. The protest contests the man’s diagnosis which led to his admission in hospital.

According to Mrs Stewart, Thomas is a ‘gentle giant’, and he wouldn’t hurt a fly. However, nurses who had spoken to her at Mount Carmel, told her that Thomas would be of danger to himself. Mrs Stewart claims she was never told the exact diagnosis of her husband’s mental illness.

Sightings of 59-year-old Thomas Stewart stopped some weeks ago. He was last seen walking in Lija, in the direction of Mosta. According to the person that spotted him, Thomas looked skinnier and his leg was bleeding.

As weeks pass without further sightings, Mrs Stewart is desperate to hear any news of her beloved husband. Those who know of Thomas Stewart’s whereabouts are encouraged to contact the family.