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Woman spots missing husband in car park 10 years after he disappeared

Russell Jenkin vanished in 2006 after an argument

Lydia Smith
Wednesday 23 August 2017 18:00 BST
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Russell Jenkin went missing in September 2006
Russell Jenkin went missing in September 2006 (Victoria Police)

A woman caught sight of her husband more than a decade after he went missing from their home near Melbourne, Australia.

Sandie Gillette, 44, last saw Russell Jenkin in September 2006, when he left their home in Werribee, a small town just outside Melbourne, after an argument.

He never returned, leaving her alone with two sons, Ethan, who was then four, and Charlie, two.

Mr Jenkin was eventually listed as an official missing person despite police searches and public appeals to track him down.

But earlier this year, Ms Gillette was with her son and daughter outside a shopping centre on the Sunshine Coast - around 1,100 miles from their home - when she spotted her husband.

“I always sort of believed he was out there somewhere. But it was a bit of a shock seeing him. I don’t know how to explain it — it was numbing,” she told news.com.au.

“We were very close and we kept watching each other walk past. And yeah, whether he was realising that was us, just as he were realising that was him, it was dumbfounding.”

Ms Gillette said she did not speak to her husband, adding that the situation was awkward.

“He could have approached us too, but what do you say to someone who has been missing for over 10 years?”

She added the main reason she had gone public with her story is for the couple’s two sons, who have not seen or heard from their father since he left.

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