Brit who vanished from sunbed on Greek beach as husband slept was ‘used to swimming in cold water & going on long hikes'
Michele Ann Joy Bourda, 59, disappeared on Friday from Ofrynio beach in Kavala, in northern Greece.
4
Michele was said to have been temporarily residing in the town of Serres, and had been enjoying a summer holiday with her Greek husband before she went missing.
She had reportedly gone for a swim while her husband was napping nearby.
Michele's disappearance has sparked an extensive land and sea search that has now entered its fifth day.
Authorities have since halted targeted coastal operations, with the Greek police now leading the investigation into her baffling disappearance.
The Brit was last seen wearing a two-piece beaded swimsuit, yellow beach shoes, and red sunglasses.
Her belongings were reportedly left behind on her sun lounger.
Neighbours back in Glasgow
One resident told the Daily Mail: "She has always dressed in walking gear with a fleece and boots or a cagoule.
"She is really into the outdoors."
Mystery as Plane Disappears Over Bass Strait: Search for Missing Pilot and Passenger
"She's very quiet and timid," another added, "but they like to go walking, they like to go wild swimming.
"They would often be away for the whole day in the summer."
The couple reportedly moved to the Scottish town six years ago to be closer to their son and are said to be "quite private" and "guarded", according to locals.
Michele's husband, Christos, allegedly woke up to find his wife missing and frantically sought help from locals.
A nearby shop owner told Greek outlet Protothema: "The couple were together and at some point the husband fell asleep, and it seems that the wife went in to swim.
"When the husband woke up and didn't see her next to him, he came to the store and asked us if we had seen his wife, who had disappeared."
The same shopkeeper added the husband appeared "a bit stressed" and claimed Michele had disappeared before.
A summer sports instructor who was on the beach around the time of her disappearance claimed he saw a woman matching her description swimming far out in deep waters.
He reportedly urged her not to go any further, according to LBC.
Despite days of intense coastal and underwater searches by the Hellenic Coast Guard, no trace of the Brit mum has been found.
A coast guard spokesperson confirmed on Monday that patrol boats were sweeping the entire Strymonian Gulf, but a targeted search near the beach had ended.
One insider told The Sun: "It's very odd that after so many days, nothing has been found.
"We now have to ask why she continued swimming out so far."
Authorities have since issued a Silver Alert, warning that her "life is in danger" and confirming that "no signs" of her have been located.
Greek police are now pursuing all leads, with the investigation shifting focus to what led up to her disappearance.
A full-scale probe remains underway.
The British embassy in Greece has also put out a missing person notice, urging anyone with information to come forward.
4
4
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Minneapolis man, 43, fled into woods during 2020 traffic stop and was never seen again
A Minneapolis father who ran away from police during a traffic stop and disappeared into the woods five years ago still has not been found. Jami Lucas, who would now be age 43, vanished without a trace on July 3, 2020, when the local sheriff tried to pull him over in Outing, Minnesota. Lucas was riding a motorbike, and Cass County Sheriff Bryan Welk said he recognized him as an unlicensed driver and tried to pull him over just before sunset. Welk pursued him down Highway 6 and a winding dirt road. Lucas eventually gave up the chase by abandoning his motorcycle and sprinting into the woods. The sheriff said he drew his gun and shouted at Lucas to stop running - but he disappeared into the foliage. Five years later, he still hasn't been seen. 'Where the hell is he?' Welk said in a recent interview with the Star Tribune. Lucas' family have criticized the sheriff's handling of the traffic stop, claiming that he shouldn't have initiated a high speed chase over a minor incident. The father-of-three is known to police with a lengthy rap sheet. They would have known where to find him and didn't need to chase him, his family have argued. His mother, Sandy Lucas, also thinks that the deputies, or even her own relatives, may have been responsible for her son's disappearance. 'They're all crooked,' she said of the police department. In an interview with the Star Tribune, the heartbroken mother added that she believes her son is dead. Sandy said one of Lucas' relatives is in prison, and local media could not reach his ex-girlfriend, or the children they share together. His mother's suspicions were bolstered by a more recent discovery that there was a sixth deputy at the scene of Lucas' disappearance who never filed a report, unlike the other five. The sixth was Lucas' cousin, deputy Aaron Ammerman. Welk said Ammerman was riding with the squad when they saw Lucas on his motorcycle, and he radioed to other deputies asking them to pull him over. Sandy said she is suspicious of both Ammerman and Welk. Ammerman has denied any wrongdoing. 'I didn't do anything in that call,' Ammerman told the Star Tribune of his cousin's disappearance on the Fourth of July weekend. 'By the time we got there he was already gone in the woods… We didn't stay there the whole time because we had to be out on the water for the fireworks display that night.' Ammerman added that Lucas' immediate relatives are 'a family of conspiracy people' and should not be taken seriously. The sheriff's office and Cass County Attorney Ben Lindstrom have said the tragedy was sparked by Lucas' decision to flee law enforcement that fateful evening. 'We certainly want to see people reconnected and have finality, but I guess what I've seen is attacks on law enforcement suggesting that this is their fault that somebody ran from them, and I think that's misplaced,' Lindstrom told the Star Tribune. He added that there are no suspects in the case, and no evidence of foul play. Law enforcement issued a nationwide arrest warrant after Lucas went missing and failed to check in with his probation officer. 'Holding him accountable for the criminal cases are secondary,' Welk told the Star Tribune. 'We need to find him; that's the first and foremost.' But searches of the area by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and sheriff's office have only drawn more blanks. Welk said they combed the area at the time of the disappearance, and again this summer, using ATVs, dogs, and drones. He said the first search was cursory because deputies did not consider Lucas to be a missing person case, but rather evading law enforcement. However, his family has slammed police for failing to issue a missing persons bulletin for Lucas until December 2024 after they filed a misconduct complaint. The family is working with a private investigator to find Lucas, and his mother Sandy has placed a memorial cross adorned with flowers at the site where he disappeared. 'I just want to find my son's remains,' she told the Star Tribune.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Four teenage girls came to study in Australia then mysteriously vanished within weeks of each other - and they are STILL missing 18 months later
Four students on exchange trips from Vietnam to an Adelaide college have all mysteriously disappeared just weeks apart and are still missing 18 months later. The four teenage girls attended Hamilton Secondary College while living with South Australian host families but vanished between December 2023 and January 2024. Despite their limited English, each girl went missing from her host home at different times, with the last one vanishing on January 8, 2024. Sunnie Nguyen, aged 17 at the time, disappeared from her room after having dinner with her host family at their South Plympton home, in Adelaide's inner-south. Host mother May Zervaas revealed she said goodnight to Sunnie, and only checked in on her at lunchtime the following day as she thought the teen was sleeping in. She discovered Sunnie had mysteriously gone, but left behind her essential medication and some clothing. Ms Zervaas later found that the Year 11 student's phone had been disconnected and her social media accounts deleted. Although there was no evidence of forced entry, Ms Zervaas' daughter Maria said she was deeply concerned for the Vietnamese girl's welfare. The Zervaas family live in South Plympton, around 8km from Adelaide's CBD and 4km from Hamilton Secondary College. They told South Australia Police that Sunnie had seemed happy living in Adelaide since she arrived in July 2023. But they said she had still relied on her host family to translate almost everything into Vietnamese as her English was very limited. 'I'm just worried because her English is not that good,' Ms Zervaas said in January 2024, days after the disappearance. 'I hope she is OK.' Sunnie's hosts said all the teenager's shoes were missing from her room, along with her backpack, laptop and identity and travel documents . There has been no sighting of Sunnie or the three other missing Vietnamese teens, who all vanished under similar circumstances and have not contacted their worried hosts. South Australian Police this week confirmed the four teens are still missing 18 months later, but downplayed fears for their safety. A fifth girl also went missing around the same time but was later located. It is speculated the missing girls may have travelled interstate, with police refusing to release any details of the three other girls also still missing. A SAPOL spokesman told the Daily Mail that police are still 'working with other agencies to help locate these youths and ensure their welfare'. But they insisted there was 'no information or evidence uncovered to date which would indicate these youths are in immediate danger'. Police also said they had contacted the Vietnamese families of the missing girls, who 'have not shared any concerns for the students' welfare'. 'It is believed the youths are actively avoiding authorities,' the spokesman added. SA Department for Education said it had been 'made aware of a small number of students who left their homestays without permission'. The Daily Mail has contacted the South Australian Vietnamese Women's Association, which has previously commented on the disappearances, for updates on the missing girls.
BBC News
4 hours ago
- BBC News
Mother's plea to find son Ali Durrani missing for six months
A mother has made an emotional plea for help in finding her son six months after he Durrani, 32, of Stirchley, Birmingham, was last seen on 6 February in the Northfield area of the a police press conference on Tuesday, his mother Mahjabeen Durrani said the family had no leads on what had Susan Mabbett, from West Midlands Police, said Mr Durrani was last seen on CCTV at 17:30 GMT on Middlemore Road, Turves Green, at the same time as a woman with a young child and a black and white dog. She urged the woman to contact police. 'Heavy heart' Mrs Durrani said: "We are longing to see our beautiful child. What happened on that day and why is he still not found?"She said her son, an economics graduate, had links to Luton, Milton Keynes, Coventry and Nuneaton, where he used to work. He also used to travel to London to see family and had been looking for work when he went missing, she him as someone who enjoyed coffee shops, book stores, walking, museums and seeing family, she said he was "an intelligent and articulate young man".Mr Durrani had anxiety and may have sought help from alternative health practitioners in the Ilford area, she added: "With a heavy heart I'm appealing to the public, do you know anything?" Supt Mabbett said detectives had carried out an extensive investigation, using drone teams and specialist search officers, and had worked with British Transport Police and West Midlands Fire had reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV, she said, but police had not recovered Mr Durrani's device, a light-coloured iPhone 12, was last active in the area of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, on 7 Mabbett said: "If you think you may have come across it and you now have Ali's phone, we'd be really grateful if you reach out to West Midlands Police." Mr Durrani - who has a birthday at the end of August - is of medium build, with black hair and a black beard. He was last seen wearing a green raincoat with black jeans and lace-up brown family have launched a social media campaign asking for information, with their TikTok videos racking up tens of thousands of views. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
