Emmerdale fans are all wondering where a certain resident has mysteriously disappeared to as they were noticeably absent from the family drama that unfolded during last night's episode (Thursday, July 6).
The Anderson family found themselves torn apart last night after Naomi Walters (Karene Peters) left the village and the reason why Victor Anderson (Eddie Osei) spent 25 years in prison was finally exposed.
Naomi was drowning in debt and was struggling to see a way out until her new friend Vinny Dingle (Bradley Johnson) offered her some of his windfall after earning some money from a house sale.
She was convinced to accept Vinny's offer by her ex-con grandad Victor, but while she had every intention to use the money to pay off her debts, Victor had other ideas.
He suggested that she kept the cash for herself and use it to go travelling to escape the village for good.
With Victor's tempting offer on the table, Naomi ended up in an argument with Chas Dingle (Lucy Pargeter) at work after she was caught giving Victor free pints.
A humiliated Naomi furiously quit and stormed out of the pub. But it wasn't long before Victor was in her ear encouraging her to take Vinny's cash and do a runner.
Later on, Naomi's dad Charles Anderson (Kevin Mathurin) and her grandmother, Claudette (Flo Wilson) caught her just before she could leave the village in a cab.
She reassured a doubtful Vinny that she would pay him back, before saying goodbye to Claudette and her angry dad, who wasn't pleased that she quit her job and was fleeing the village.
Charles furiously confronted Victor for encouraging Naomi to leave and it wasn't long before their feud spilled into the home.
Not only did Charles lose his daughter last night, but he was also disowned by his mother when Victor revealed that Charles was the one who put him in prison.
Victor explained that he resorted to a life of crime to help provide for the family and was desperate to get out of the gang. However, he was forced to kill someone after the boss threatened to hurt Charles and Claudette if he didn't do what they wanted.
He went on to reveal that the police had no proof that he was involved and that nobody could identify him, so he came up with the alibi that he was with his son in a bid to stop himself from going to prison.
However, instead of lying for his dad, Charles told the police the truth and got Victor sent to prison.
A devastated Claudette sobbed as she blamed Charles for destroying the family, before telling him that she was ashamed to call him her son.
Despite the charged scenes, fans couldn't help but notice that there was one person who wasn't there to witness the family drama — Charles' son Ethan Anderson (Emile John), who hasn't been seen in months...
Are @emmerdale ever going to acknowledge the mystery disappearance of Ethan? . #emmerdaleJuly 7, 2023
Sling the pair of them Charles. Your life was going pretty well without them, and Naomi. Weird how Ethan isn't present to witness all this drama. #emmerdaleJuly 6, 2023
Looks like the writers forgot Ethan #emmerdaleJuly 6, 2023
Does anyone know where Ethan is? #EmmerdaleJuly 6, 2023
Despite Ethan's absence from our screens, fans won't have long to wait for his return because actor Emile John recently confirmed his return to the soap.
Sharing the news on his Instagram Stories, Emile posted a selfie of him on the Emmerdale set, captioning the image "Annnnd we're back", the soap star also posted a snap with his co-stars Rebecca Sarker (Manpreet), his on-screen father Kevin Mathurin (Charles) and on-screen grandmother Flo Wilson (Claudette) at the Anderson household.
Emmerdale continues tonight at 7:30pm on ITV1.
