‘My son vanished with out hint – it is a whole thriller however I do know he is nonetheless on the market’

The distraught family of Anthony Stammers, who was just 27 years old when he went missing on the day before his granddad’s funeral 13 years ago, say they believe he is alive

The parents of a man who disappeared without a trace the day before his granddad’s funeral say they believe he must still be alive.

Rob and Julie Stammers last saw their son Anthony, 27, on May 27, 2012. He went to stay with a friend in London on the day before his grandfather’s funeral and was never seen again.

He had promised to be back the next day to attend the funeral, where he was due to give a reading. But when he failed to show, they just knew something was very wrong. “It feels like my heart is breaking into so many pieces,” says Julie, nearly 13 years on.

“I can’t celebrate with him because I don’t know where he is. Even though he’s 40, he’s still my baby. It would just be so wonderful to be able to celebrate his birthday with him and have him home for Christmas.”

Speaking to The Mirror from their home in Colchester last week, on Anthony’s 40th birthday, Rob, 73, says: “The last 12 years or so have been absolute agony for us – his sister Catherine, 45, and his brother James, 43, miss him dreadfully.

“To say it was out of character for Anthony to not attend my dad’s funeral would be putting it mildly.”

They say that while he “wasn’t in a good place” and had “a number of knockbacks”, they can’t know for sure what happened the day he vanished.

“At first we thought he wanted some time to himself to get away from things. But then when he didn’t come home you don’t know what to think,” the couple added.

“It’s a mystery, but we believe Anthony is still alive. You do think the worst at times, but we’ve had no bad news, so we continue to look for him. Every time we go up to London, we’re always looking for him on the train and the tube.”

They said Christmas is always full of emotions and while they find joy in their other children and now being grandparents, they would love for him to be able to meet his new niece and be part of the family again.

“Just a couple of days ago, there was a chap across the road from our house standing at a bus stop and I thought ‘oh my goodness they look so similar,” Julie adds.

“I was just staring at him and in the end, I had to go over and apologise for staring at him and say ‘I’m so sorry for staring at you, you look like my son’. It’s exhausting.

“Some days I don’t feel like getting up, but I say to myself ‘today’s the day we might find him, so get up, get dressed and get on with it’.”

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