THE Brit husband of a missing woman in Greece has told how he was laughed at as he begged for help after waking up to find his wife had disappeared.
Chris Bourda, 66, claims he woke up on a sun lounger on Ofrynio beach on Friday – before finding his partner Michele, 59, had mysteriously vanished during their holiday in Kavala.
Michele Ann Joy Bourda, 59, who disappeared from the beach of Ofryni, Kavala
Brit husband Chris Bourda told how he was laughed at as he begged for help
ANT1Michele in picture believed to have been taken hours before she went missing[/caption]
He also blasted search efforts by local cops for his wife, branding the police “unbothered”.
He told the Daily Mail: “She had seemed quite happy that day. We went for a short swim as it was windy and there were a few waves.
“She then ordered a few crepes and said we could have a nice sleep after.
“Unfortunately I fell asleep first and when I woke up she wasn’t there.”
Michele was last seen wearing a two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes, and red sunglasses, according to authorities.
Chris said she even left her towel behind when she suddenly disappeared.
Her husband detailed his panicked attempt to find her after realising she had vanished.
“I quickly ran to the toilet and knocked on the ladies but she wasn’t in there. I then ran to the beach to look again in the water,” he said.
“I asked the people behind us if they had seen her, they said no but then later they sent a photograph to the police which had shown us eating crepes in the background.”
He added: “I then quickly went back to the waiter to say my wife was missing, have you seen her and he started laughing.”
The staffer only started to take the situation seriously when Chris desperately explained that his wife had “psychological problems”.
The distraught husband then asked a shopkeeper for help.
The local rang the police, but cops took two hours to arrive at the scene.
This left Chris to frantically search for Michele on his own.
He said that he did not see a single police officer on the beach the day his wife went missing – and a fellow hotel guest echoed this claim.
Chris said: “The police didn’t do anything on the day. One guest who was there that day said she didn’t see any police and I didn’t see any police that day either, not one single policeman at the beach.
“The only thing I saw was a police car driving up and down the road to the beach. Not getting out of the car, just looking in the direction of the sea.”
The tourist also slammed cops by revealing they have not been using drones of search dogs in the search efforts.
Police have only been using search boats in the early morning or night “so as not to disturb or concern the tourists”, the Brit said.
He added that when he visited the hospital while searching for his wife, doctors told him that “a lot of incidents” happen on that beach and that it can sometimes be dangerous.
“I wonder if they have told me if she is alive so other tourists don’t get scared,” he said.
EnterpriseThe missing woman previously faced ‘psychological problems’, her husband said[/caption]
EPT NEWSMichele was last seen wearing a two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes, and red sunglasses[/caption]
Chris pleaded: “I have been searching without sleep or anything. Day and night, especially early in the morning. It was hard to see at night though as it was so dark.
“For days and nights I have gone up down the coast, searched bushes, olive groves, empty houses, building sites, later I went to the hills, nothing.”
He continued: “I asked the police if they think that she is alive, why don’t they use dogs, drones, helicopters and they replied where shall we search? It’s a vast area?
“I don’t think my wife would have gone to somebody in the car or anything. I really don’t. I have tried everywhere but one person alone is very difficult to find something.”
Pharmacist Chris said his wife had battled bouts of depression and anxiety for years – and had vanished once before after being made redundant in London.
Luckily, cops found her the same night.
She fell ill again in February but was reportedly in good spirits when the couple jetted off to Greece for some sun.
The couple, who have been married for 36 years after meeting at university in Germany, were enjoying their first few days wandering around Kavala before the frightening ordeal.
Chris said: “The whole night before she had been holding my hand and you would never think anything was wrong or something like this would ever happen.
“We were talking the other day and she was saying how happy our 40 years together and I said yes, we will hopefully have another 40 years in front of us.”
The Brit also made a complaint to the British Embassy in Athens after feeling completely let down by local police.
Chris added: “I want to complain as they have around 40 million tourists visiting here each year but they don’t have any infrastructure here to help if things go wrong.
“These are things we would not usually think about when we are safe until something happens and you realise you are not safe.”
He added: “The police are not bothered, they sit in their office in the shade or I’ve seen others just standing in the shade under some trees. That’s how they work.
“When I visited the station there were just five of them sitting there playing on their phones.”
A police source told The Sun: “We are giving it our all.
“There are still no signs as to whether she went missing on land or sea but right now there are no plans either to end this search.
“We are not at that stage.”
Lifeline HellasA Silver Alert was issued after authorites failed to locate the woman[/caption]
EnterpriseOfrynio beach Kavala where the woman is thought to have vanished[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
