Wife tells missing Josh: I love you to moon and back too
THE wife of a loving husband who disappeared in Derbyshire last year has issued a heartfelt plea for him to come home, positive that he is still alive.
Joshua Jones vanished on December 12 last year in Matlock after telling his family he was heading to the pharmacy.
He was last seen at the Sainsbury’s in the Hurst Rise area, at around 12.30pm, after texting his wife, Talia: “I love you to the moon and back”.
He then turned off his phone and has not been in contact with his family since. Now Talia, who is the mother of his three-year-old son Luke, has pleaded for him to return home.
Speaking to the Daily Star, she said: “I want Joshua to know I love him to the moon and back, too.
“I just want him to know it will never be too late to come home.”
Joshua, who was 29 at the time of his disappearance, but has since turned 30, worked as a binman and Talia remains certain he is safe.
She said: “I still leave notes on the kitchen window when I go to the shop to tell him where I’ve gone and that I will be back soon, just in case he returns and I’m not there. And every time I go to bed I leave a note out saying we are in bed but ask him to knock and I will come down. I leave a night light on for him as well. I still email him at least daily too. I give him little snippets of our lives.”
Joshua is described as 6ft, slim, with blue eyes and brown hair,. He had a Sainsbury’s carrier bag at the time he was last seen.
Police had believed Joshua may have been hitch-hiking after a man matching his description was seen walking the A632 near Chesterfield on the evening of his disappearance. But this line of inquiry was later ruled out.
Meanwhile, Talia had revealed that the pair had argued on the day he vanished, after his car had been broken down and the pair still had not sorted Christmas presents or their big food shop.
She said at the time: “He texted me hours after he left to say it wasn’t my fault and he loved Luke, the girls and he loved me to the moon and back.”
It has left the whole family devastated, but Talia has had to remain strong for the pair’s son and her two children from a previous marriage, with Luke still thinking of his dad as he celebrated his birthday with only his mum.
Talia said: “I felt like having a meltdown, but I couldn’t. I had to stay strong and keep it together for Luke’s sake. The night before I had a little cry before bed.
“Well, it wasn’t a little cry, I was sobbing, but you have to let that emotion out or you will drive yourself crazy.”
“Josh and I bought Luke a big truck and some car toys together but it was a shame he wasn’t there to see our son really enjoy playing with them. He has missed some really important things like birthdays and our wedding anniversary and that makes me so sad.”
She said: “[Luke] calls out for him in his sleep and he will see a binman walk past the house and he will recognise the uniform and you see his little brain thinking that it looks like his dad. He still points to pictures and says ‘dad.’”
A fundraiser to help find Joshua has raised more than £1,000 as reward money for those who come forward with information.
Police have urged anyone with information to call 101, quoting the reference 518 of December 12.