Fears are growing for the welfare of a missing 76-year-old British pensioner who vanished from a Costa del Sol bar just one day before he was due to fly home.
Clifford Wildgoose was last seen at around 2am on Saturday, September 21, at Patrick’s 19th Hole Bar in the upmarket resort of Puerto Banus near Marbella.
The beloved father-of-five, of Whitby, Yorkshire, was due to board a flight home on Sunday morning with a friend he had been on holiday with for the weekend.
But he mysteriously never arrived at Malaga airport – with his devastated daughter Melanie, from Manchester, sharing how the entire family have been left ‘extremely worried’ by his sudden disappearance.
Melanie, who said that her father ‘wasn’t feeling well’ at the time he vanished, said: ‘I was going to travel to Spain this morning but we’ve been advised to hang on for the moment.
‘The gate has just closed for the flight he was due to board to get back home and his friends are at the airport and there’s no sign of him and they’ve had no contact with him.’
Melanie added that a seven pound transaction went through on her father’s bank card on the morning of September 21 at a supermarket just five minutes from where he was last seen.
A five pound transaction was also processed on his card on September 20, with police said to be investigating both payments.
Clifford Wildgoose (pictured) was last seen at around 2am on Saturday, September 21, at Patrick’s 19th Hole Bar in the upmarket resort of Puerto Banus near Marbella. The beloved father-of-five, of Whitby, Yorkshire, was due to board a flight home on Sunday morning
She continued: ‘At the moment we don’t know if it’s my dad making those purchases or someone who’s got hold of his wallet and something bad’s happened to him.
‘The friend my dad was with said he just vanished, that he was stood at the bar one minute and gone the next.
‘He’s not that steady on his feet because he’s had a knee replacement and he was having some other health issues.’
She added that Mr Wildgoose had left both his phone and passport at a friend’s apartment based in La Cala de Mijas, approximately 30 minutes drive from Puerto Banus.
However, he has never visited the property before, and so is unlikely to know the address. At the time he was last seen, he was carrying just a few euros and a bank card.
Describing her father as a ‘chatty, friendly, kind man’ who was ‘well travelled’, Melanie added: ‘Everyone loves my dad. He’s very well known in Marsden near Huddersfield where all his friends live and he used to live.’
In a desperate bid for information, Melanie first flagged Mr Wildgoose’s disappearance on social media in a post that read: ‘Missing person last seen at Patrick’s 19th Hole Bar in Puerto Banus. He’s 76 from the UK and he’s called Clifford Wildgoose.
‘Family are extremely worried and police have been informed. Any information please message.’
Later that evening, she added that he ‘has no phone and no-one has seen or heard from him’, writing: ‘He’s due to fly home tomorrow.
Mr Wildgoose’s devastated daughter Melanie said that the family have been left ‘extremely worried’ by his sudden disappearance. She added: ‘The friend my dad was with said he just vanished, that he was stood at the bar (pictured) one minute and gone the next’
‘Family are worried sick. Please contact if any info.’
It comes a day after police searching for a British man who disappeared from the Costa del Sol last month found a body believed to be his.
Andrew Wade, 65, was last seen on August 15, with friends sharing that they were extremely worried something bad had happened to him.
On September 20, National Police officers who had been searching for Mr Wade said they had found a body thought to be his in an area called Paraiso near Estepona.
Drones were used in the extensive hunt to find Mr Wade, who officers believe had been preparing to move back to the UK when he vanished.
At the time he went missing, he was said to have been possibly driving a black Volkswagen Golf.
Reports at the time of his tragic disappearance said he had left behind his two cats which was ‘very unlike him.’ One acquaintance described him as ‘lovely.’
