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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
James Holt & Elaine Blackburne

Great-grandad told wife he'd be home soon - that was the last anyone heard from him

For Michelle Baglin December 28 was like almost any other day. She and husband Peter both taken the day off work after working over Christmas and spent it doing ordinary things.

But when the great-grandad set out for an evening walk, Michelle could have no idea that a month later he would still not have returned. Shortly afterwards he was seen buying a small bottle of whiskey from a local garage before heading off into the bitterly cold night.

And since then there have been no signs of the whereabouts of the family man. With each heartbreaking day that goes by with no answers, no leads, and still no other confirmed sightings of him, Michelle and her family say they can do nothing but remain hopeful that one day he will be found.

The couple have been together almost 30 years and have always been "best friends". They married in 2001 and Michelle said their relationship at the time of his disappearance was "the best it has ever been", she told the Manchester Evening News.

When Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer two years ago Peter was her 'rock' and 'backbone'. And she says her fight made them stronger.

Peter Baglin, 55 and wife Michelle Baglin (Michelle Baglin)

She said their grown up children have now moved out and she and Peter were looking forward to the future - growing old together and being able to afford holidays away. He always tells her: "Michelle, you are my world."

But since his disappearance she says she can't begin to look forward and is constantly thinking of where Peter is. She said: "It is always there in the back of your mind. Even when you try and just carry on and be normal, you can't. It's a bit like a bereavement, but there's nothing at the end of it and no answers.

"How can you live a normal life and think about the future, when your future isn't there beside you? I can't even think that far forward, I have to just take every day as it comes. It doesn't seem like four weeks since he went missing, it feels like just a couple of days.

"I'm not sleeping at all. It's at night when it's the hardest, because I see his dressing gown and head isn't on the pillow next to me. I am trying so hard to be thankful for what I've got, but we have never been apart for more than a couple of days. This is the longest we haven't seen each other for, it's heartbreaking.

The last confirmed sighting of Peter was CCTV from the Texaco Garage on East Lancs Road (GMP)

"We are each other's best friends. On our days off, we will watch A Place In The Sun together and can stay there just laughing together and talking. Our relationship was the best it's ever been. The kids are grown up - I remember the days we couldn't afford a holiday, it was just £950 at a caravan park.

"I can't understand it. It's like every day you are living a nightmare, like you're here, but you're not. I keep asking myself if I have missed anything or not picked up on any signs.

"I've thought over and over about the night he went missing. There were no signs of him letting me know he was struggling, but I would have known. I'm his best friend and he is mine."

Following Peter's disappearance, Michelle set about organising huge searches, involving friends, family and the local community. She said it was something that gave her purpose at the beginning.

Peter had left their Boothstown home in Salford, Manchester and was last seen nearby, at the Texaco Garage on East Lancs Road, Mosley Common, at around 7.38pm on December 28. Michelle spoke to him on the phone later that evening, at around 8.15pm, where he told her he was on a walk to 'clear his head'.

Michelle and Peter with daughter Abbeygail (Michelle Baglin)

He said he was going down to walk along Bridgewater Canal. She was worried, but he assured her he would 'be home soon'.

Days later, after police deployed huge search teams to the local area, trawling through woodland and with divers in the canal, a number of his belongings were found close to the embankment on Vicars Hall Lane. His hat, phone, bank cards, tobacco, house key and headphones have been recovered and are with police.

"I am at a loss - none of us can believe it. We are all just sitting and waiting for something to come up," Michelle added.

"It's as if he's just dropped off the face of the earth. We know nothing, I can't understand how in this day and age with all the technology, CCTV, doorbell cameras and alarms that there aren't any confirmed sightings.

"I had purpose at the start. I was getting up knowing we had a job to do. We had to find him. It's becoming harder as the time goes on. My children have gone back to work and they phone me every day asking for any news. It's heart-wrenching to tell them no."

Peter was wearing his grey Mountain Equipment hoodie the night he disappeared (Family picture)

The day he went missing was run of the mill. Michelle told how the couple had gone to Screwfix to buy a new part for their toilet that had broken.

But since then her world has been far from normal. Despite police remaining in daily contact with Michelle and people phoning in to report possible sightings of Peter, she is still left desperate for answers.

She said: "Police have told me people have been phoning in but that the sightings aren't viable. I never want to miss anything, so am always checking messages three or four times a day.

"I am dreading going back to work and every time I leave the house it makes me anxious. I don't want to be out long because I am scared he is going to come back and I won't be there."

"It's mentally destroying me. I'm carrying on and I have to try and put it to one side, knowing that he must be out there somewhere. We always said we'd grow old together. I just never thought I'd be in a position like this. It's the not knowing that is the hardest part - I don't understand how someone could just disappear."

He has a distinctive tattoo (Family picture)

Peter, who works at Salford Royal Hospital alongside wife Michelle, was last seen wearing navy coloured joggers, walking shoe type trainers and a grey Mountain Equipment hoodie with a red zip and a hat. He is described as being 5ft 10ins in height, with grey hair, and a tattoo on the left side of his neck that says 'Michelle'. He is also wearing his wedding ring.

Following his disappearance, over a hundred people helped search for him, travelling as far as Glazebrook, Culcheth, Astley, Swinton, Kearsley and Irlam. Michelle added: "We have knocked on doors, circulated it on Facebook and just done everything we can, but until we get a new sighting, we are left in limbo.

"When we've had possible sightings, we have gone and had a look at the different places but its been to no avail. I've looked at footage and can tell it isn't him even by the way he walks. It takes you to a high, and then when I realise it isn't him, I feel like I just get dropped and we are back to square one.

"We just want him home, I want him safe and I want some clarity."

Police are asking anyone who may have seen Peter, or anyone with any other information regarding his whereabouts, to contact them on the switchboard 0161 856 8351 or 0161 856 7857, via 101 or by speaking to the independent charity – Crimestoppers – anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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