THE wife of a Scots sailor who went missing five months ago while ashore in Dubai fought back tears as she made an appeal for him to be found.
Leading Seaman (LS) Timothy MacColl, who was serving on HMS Westminster, went missing while the ship was visiting the United Arab Emirates.
The 28-year-old was last seen getting into a taxi taking him back to the ship at Port Rashid in the early hours of May 27.
When LS MacColl went missing, his wife was 20 weeks pregnant with their third child, Eriskay, who has since been born and has not met her father, who is from Killin, Stirlingshire. The couple also have a son, Cameron, and daughter, Skye.
Rachael MacColl, 25, said: "My husband is not just a sailor, he's an adoring father, son and uncle. He is my soul mate, my first love and best friend.
"We have been together since we were teenagers, we have grown together, got married and started a family.
"Days before my husband went missing, we had celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary and his present from me were scan pictures of our soon-to-be third child who I had just seen at our 20-week scan.
"We planned to go out when he came home to celebrate.
"We had everything to look forward to and as I have said from the beginning, my husband wants to be found.
"He was so excited about our baby coming and I had sent him loads of bump photos."
She added: "The one thing that pains me the most is that he's not here for them.
"Growing up without a father meant Timmy put everything into being a great daddy and he would be heartbroken that he hasn't been with them the last few months."
She was supported by family members, including several who had travelled down from Killin, where her husband grew up before he moved with his family to Gosport, Hampshire.
Mrs MacColl said that she had become frustrated at the lack of co-operation from the Dubai police. She said: "There's been a lot of communication breakdown, it has affected the whole of this investigation. As a family we find it very hard. I call Dubai police on a regular basis three or four times a week, I've run up a phone bill for three or four hundred pounds, it's not as if we haven't tried."
Mrs MacColl said she believed her husband was still alive.
She said: "I do not think he made it back to the port. I do believe he is just sat in a police station somewhere and no-one has found him yet."
Describing the reactions of Cameron, seven, and Skye, four, she added: "My daughter thinks her daddy is still going to come home, she asks if they are still looking for daddy.
"She thinks he is going to be found whereas my son is a bit older and he thinks he is in heaven and he will be there waiting for him."
Commander Jonathan Hodgkins, of Royal Navy personnel, said: "An investigation led by the Dubai police is ongoing. "
On May 26, LS MacColl went to the Rock Bottom Cafe with two other colleagues shortly before midnight. He was seen on CCTV at the entrance, talking to an Emirati biker.
Witnesses say LS MacColl was brought out of the premises in the early hours of May 27 after falling asleep, and two sailors say he was put in a taxi and his fare paid for him to be taken back to Port Rashid. He has not been seen since.
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