A Welsh woman who's been missing since November has been described by her husband as "a beautiful wife and soulmate" and "a wonderful mother".
Eryl Reeves, 68, was reported missing on November 29 after husband Dennis returned home from work and found her missing. That same afternoon, police launched an urgent appeal after they found her car, left unlocked, at St Govans Head in Pembrokeshire.
There was no clue to suggest she'd gone but Dennis said he knew immediately that he'd lost her. Three days later, the lifeboat found Eryl's light blue puffa jacket in the water at the base of the cliffs. Her body has still not been found although Dennis hasn't given up all hope. He hopes walkers, sailors and fishing boat operators might come across Eryl - who was wearing a green jumper, a white vest and dark leggings at the time of her disappearance - somewhere.
Speaking from their home in Pembroke, the former customs officer said it was hard to watch the wall-to-wall coverage of missing Nicola Bulley. After accepting "the loss of such a beautiful soul way too soon", Dennis said he's starting to "get his act together". You can get more local news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
"If I think about it, it still makes me want to cry," he said. The couple had been married for 21 years and had had a happy and loving marriage. But it wasn't until Eryl retired from her job with the NHS that her mental health became unmanageable and she went to see her GP, Dennis claimed.
After retiring from her job with the Hywel Dda health board in December 2019 following a period of sickness, Dennis said his wife was plunged into a terrible depression and was prescribed medication which initially "worked well". She came off the meds but then became depressed again and was put onto different medication.
Dennis said: "It held the depression at bay for a little bit but she never went back to the woman I married, although I never stopped loving her."
Just before she went missing, the couple had been on a trip to Australia to see Eryl's brother. In a bid to bring some fun back into his wife's life, Dennis said they saved up and went business class and tried to enjoy it as much as they could.
"She wasn't depressed, but she wasn't happy," he added. The couple returned on November 17 and Eryl seemed happy to be home. Less than two weeks later, Dennis said he got up as usual and kissed his wife goodbye in the morning before heading to work. He recalled: "She was happy, her eyes were bright. You could always tell with Eryl with her eyes. I gave her a hug and a kiss like I did every day. The magic was still there after 21 years. She giggled and I thought she is going to have a good day today."
The couple had booked another holiday for later that year but Eryl was already planning ahead. When Dennis phoned her in his lunch break, she told him she wanted to get the cases down from the attic later and she'd been sorting her dresses ready for the trip.
When Eryl was having a good period, she was a "livewire", said Dennis and she "wasn't having any of getting old".
But when Dennis got home just after 5pm, she wasn't home and didn't answer her phone. "I just sensed she had gone," said Dennis. "I just knew it. I rang the police straightaway." Dyfed-Powys Police were "wonderful" said Dennis and he watched their blue lights disappear up St Daniels Hill and towards the coast.
"I stared and stared out the window," he continued. "I told the officers I knew where she'd gone, it will be St Govans." She would often head to that spot when she was having a bad day. She liked to watch the sea, Dennis said. Then came a radio call to say they'd found her car with the keys still in the ignition, which wasn't out of character for Eryl. Dennis said she often left her keys in the car.
Dennis said he slept on the settee that first night, unable to bear the thought of sleeping in their bed upstairs. In his heart of hearts, he knew Eryl was gone and he changed the sheets the following day: "Every morning I would put my hand across to her but she wasn't there," he said.
Dennis had to go to St Govans himself and look for his wife on the Thursday. It was as he asked the heavens "Where are you Eryl" that he looked down and could see something in the water. He called the coastguard and they retrieved Eryl's coat. Dennis added: "That's it, that's the only thing that's been found." He was even given the use of a plane for free from former colleagues at Fly Wales at Haverfordwest Airport, but despite an extensive search as low as they could possibly fly, they found nothing.
"The conclusion is that she went into the sea," Dennis continued. "Whether she slipped or she had had enough, we won't know. Her body could still just be off St Govans or a beach on Cornwall. There's so much coverage of Nicola Bulley but we have a missing person here too.
"I think I know what happened on the day. When she crashed, she crashed quickly." Yet police are keeping an open mind as there were two plates and two forks laid out on the kitchen table for dinner. Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed that the case is still a missing person enquiry and has not yet been passed to the coroner.
"Her depression was absolutely heart-breaking to see," Dennis said. "If it was an accident, it was an accident. But 60% of me thinks she had just had enough. I will never know.
"I just wish I could tell her one more time how much I loved her, and still love her."
For confidential support the Samaritans can be contacted for free around the clock 365 days a year on 116 123.
READ NEXT
