The husband of a British woman who disappeared in Greece has recounted his ordeal, revealing he was mocked when he desperately sought assistance.
Chris Bourda, 66, nodded off on a sunbed only to wake and discover that his wife, 59-year-old Michele Ann Joy Bourda, had vanished. Her possessions, including her towel, were left untouched on the sunbed, but Michele was nowhere to be seen last Friday afternoon.
Still frantically searching for his wife in Kavala, Greece, Chris approached a waiter at a nearby beachside restaurant for information about Michele, only to be greeted with laughter. It was only after persuading a local shopkeeper to aid him that the police were finally called.
This incident follows the recent case of another Brit who went missing in Paris and was found safe two weeks later. Speaking from Kavala last night, Chris shared: “Unfortunately I fell asleep and when I woke up she wasn’t there… I went back to the waiter to say my wife was missing, have you seen her and he started laughing.”
Now, Chris, who resides with Michele in Glasgow, is criticising Greek authorities for their apparent apathy in the search for his wife, the Mirror reports. He reported not spotting a single officer on the beach the day she disappeared, a sentiment confirmed by another guest at their hotel.
“The police didn’t do anything on the day. One guest who was there that day said she didn’t see any police and I didn’t see any police that day either, not one single policeman at the beach.
“The only thing I saw was a police car driving up and down the road to the beach. Not getting out of the car, just looking in the direction of the sea,” Chris, who has a son with Michele, said last night.
Chris recounted the day Michele disappeared, telling the Daily Mail that his partner was “quite happy” and they had enjoyed a swim in the sea.
Michele, formerly employed by BT and later at a local council, had travelled to Greece with Chris for a fortnight’s holiday last month.
Yet now, Chris is engulfed in despair over the grim situation. The father, who met Michele at university 36 years ago, added: “I have been searching without sleep or anything.
“Day and night, especially early in the morning. It was hard to see at night though as it was so dark.”
He added: “For days and nights I have gone up down the coast, searched bushes, olive groves, empty houses, building sites, later I went to the hills, nothing…
“The whole night before she had been holding my hand and you would never think anything was wrong or something like this would ever happen.”
Michele is described as 5ft 6in tall, slim, with blue eyes and shoulder-length hair. She was last seen wearing a rhinestone-embellished two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes, and red horn-rimmed sunglasses.