Forest hunt for Gareth
Police appeal for information as relatives ask him to make contact
THE family of a man who has been missing for more than two months have appealed for him to make contact after searching his last known location this weekend.
Gosport resident Gareth Jones was last seen near the Hilsea Lido, in London Road, on Friday, May 8.
Gareth – who was wearing a dark parka jacket, a grey T-shirt, dark jeans, and grey trainers – was recorded on CCTV and spoke to an offduty police officer in the area.
On Saturday, more than 15 people spent five hours searching Foxes Forest, along the Hilsea Lines, according to Chris Taylor, a co-ordinator from the Denmead Drone Search and Rescue group.
He said: ‘We found some sleeping areas that could be linked to Gareth.
‘There’s about three or four sleeping areas in the forest.
‘There’s not conclusive evidence that he is there, but we would still want to encourage people to keep an eye out in the forest.’
The 39-year-old had been staying in a hostel in Fareham when his declining mental health led to his admittance at Queen Alexandra Hospital on the day he was last seen, according to his stepmother, Mary Jones.
She said: ‘The hostel had phoned for the ambulance because of his mental state.
‘He last spoke to his mum at (Queen Alexandra), and he was in a very distressed state.
‘He wasn’t coping with the lockdown – he was finding it very hard.’
The missing man has slept rough in the past, according to his stepmother – but has never gone missing for so long without contacting his loved ones.
Mary said: ‘He normally keeps in contact with people.
‘He has gone off before, but only for a couple of days.
‘We don’t know the details of how he left the hospital.’
She added: ‘All we need to know is that he is alive and safe.’
Police officers were not present at the search on Saturday, but are continuing to appeal for information and work with the missing man’s family.
A police spokesman said: ‘If you have any information as to his whereabouts, please call 101 and quote incident number 44200163176.’
His disappearance has been registered with Missing People UK.
He wasn’t coping with the lockdown. He was finding it very hard.
Mary Jones
The mental health toll of … lockdown ... is a ticking timebomb
Antony Rumming is keenly aware of how fragile mental health can be. Fifteen years ago this month, London was rocked by a wave of coordinated suicide attacks by Islamic extremists which killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
Antony, who was a young Met police officer at the time, was there to deal with the sickening aftermath. ‘It was awful’, he says. ‘There are difficult situations that you go to and think you are okay. But unfortunately, further down the line, I now suffer from complex PTSD.
‘I have been involved in a number of fatalities. One that really made me question whether I wanted to carry on in the Met was the murder of two children. That was it for me. I had had enough by then and it pushed me to leave.’
Fast-forward to 2020 and Antony, now 38, is living in Denmead with his three-year-old daughter Phoebe, and although long out of the police and now working as a security guard, he is still driven by the urge to help people.
That is one of the reasons he built a force of his own, Denmead Drone Search and Rescue (DDSAR).
The organisation has hundreds of volunteers across the county who use drones, dogs, off-road vehicles, and even horse riders – who use their high vantage point – to look for pets and people who go missing.
Since March their swift actions have reunited owners with dogs and their public appeals through social media have helped trace missing people too.
They have worked with the family of Trinity Robin, who was found after being missing for a month, and are currently combing the area on foot and by air for Gareth Jones, from Gosport, who has been missing since May. They only act following family requests to help.
Antony says: ‘It began about three months ago and it is now a huge community effort, it is community-led.
‘We’re not trying to take over police work and if there are suspicious circumstances we won’t get involved. We don’t want people on the ground potentially destroying evidence.
‘The police do a great job but their numbers are limited. If you report a missing or stolen pet it’s not going to be a priority. Last year we lost our dog and it took 16 hours to find him. If we’d had a drone we’d have found him in minutes. If a pet is taken the chances of it being reunited with its owner through the police are limited.’
And that's where DDSAR can step in.
Antony uses the drone left to him by his father, Terry, who took his own life, last year. ‘My father committed suicide in October’, says Antony, ‘He had been suffering from depression. When my dad died my total outlook on life changed.’
Considering both his and his father’s battles with depression and PTSD, Antony came to an important realisation. He says: ‘It got me thinking – we’re at a time when we’re going to see a massive increase in the number of people going missing because of Covid. The mental health toll of people being forced into lockdown, losing their jobs, is a ticking timebomb. ‘The government knows that, but they do not have the resources to deal with the fall-out. Mental health services can’t deal with that situation.’
That's why Antony feels the work of DDSAR is so important.
A mental health nurse has offered their services to coach volunteers on what to do if they find someone who has gone missing.
Antony says: ‘It feels brilliant, especially when there is a good ending. Anyone who has lost a family member or pet will know how much it hurts. When they are found you get quite a rush of adrenaline.
‘There is a real need for this. We’re a valuable community resource. We know we can help the emergency services. We’re doing work they would not necessarily do. They’re not going to look for stolen pets. We’re taking some of the burden from them.’
Antony believes that in future the organisation’s role will expand and they can help in local crises such as flooding. He says: ‘It’s about getting the community out there to help each other – something we lacked until we started this.
‘The community has changed since I was little. We have become bubbles of people living among others, but not with each other.
‘People have great skills and hobbies that can be put to use to help everyone else. It’s quite simple really.’