Haunting last photo of Brit tourist before she vanished from sunbed while husband slept

Daily Mirror

3 days ago

The search continues for 59-year-old British woman Michele Ann Joy Bourda, who went missing from a beach in Kavala, northern Greece, last Friday
Missing Michele Ann Joy Bourda was pictured enjoying breakfast at a cafe with her husband just hours before she vanished.
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The British tourist had been swimming at Ofrynio beach in the city of Kavala at around noon on Friday before she suddenly disappeared. Fears are growing for the 59-year-old, as the search for her has now entered its fifth day. Now a new image, released to Greek media, shows her eating alongside husband Christos at the beach-side restaurant on the morning of her disappearance.
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Wearing a dark swimming costume and sunglasses, she is seen sitting and talking to her husband Christos, who is Greek, who is pictured in the snap wearing a white cap. Mr Bourda was asleep when she disappeared at around midday on August 1. It comes after a Brit who vanished in Paris was discovered safe some two weeks later.
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The image obtained by Greek outlet ANT1 reportedly shows Mrs Bourda eating with her partner at the cafe near the beach where, just three hours later, she went missing from. Her husband woke to find her gone, before raising the alarm before the distressed man raced to ask a local shop owner if he had seen her.
Speaking to Protothema, the shopkeeper said: "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."
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Mr Bourda was understandably "stressed" when he entered the shop, the man said, as the hunt for his missing wife continues. Greek missing persons charity Lifeline Hellas put out a Silver Alert later that day after police were unable to locate her. She is understood to live with her husband in Glasgow, Scotland. On the day she disappeared, she was wearing a two-piece swimsuit with rhinestones, yellow beach shoes and red sunglasses. She was apparently seen swimming at around 12pm.
An alert from the charity read: "Her life is in danger. If you know anything, contact the Silver Alert service, 24 hours a day, at the National SOS Line 1065." It comes after girl, 3, was found dead on beach by a horrified passer-by.
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Michele is described as having straight blonde hair down to her shoulders, hazel eyes, is 1.73m (5ft 6in) tall and is thin.
The British embassy in Greece shared a notice on Facebook which read: 'Michele Ann BOURDA went missing on 01/08/2025 at the beach of Ofrynio in Kavala. On the day she went missing, she was wearing a swimsuit with decorative stones, yellow water shoes and red plastic sunglasses. Her life is in danger.'
A summer sports instructor said he saw someone who matched Michele's description swimming near the beach on Friday. He said the woman didn't appear to be in difficulty in the water. Michele was described as very adventurous and active today. Her neighbours in Glasgow said she likes hiking and swimming in cold water.
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One neighbour told Mail Online: "They've got bikes, and are quite active. They like to go walking, they like to go wild swimming. "They would go, and they would often be away for the whole day in the summer.
"Then if we saw them coming in and out and they would say, 'oh, we've been somewhere up north and we were swimming'. And I would see her sometimes sit and reading in the garden."
The friends said they often see Michele and husband Christos out walking with backpacks on or loading the car for another day trip in the wild. Another neighbour added: "They've couple are very private and keep themselves to themselves. She is very quiet and timid and he is a bit more commanding.
"They moved to Glasgow about six years ago because their son is studying here. They are retired and tend to go everywhere together even though they have two cars. They are quite guarded and private but I'm very shocked that she has gone missing."