DUBAI // The wife of missing British seaman Timmy MacColl has announced a £250,000 (Dh1.5 million) reward to anyone with information that leads to him being found.
"My message today is just to come forward with information," Rachael MacColl said on a British TV show, Lorraine.
"There's a £250,000 reward that someone's put up for information that leads to him physically being found, that's available in the UAE and here as well."
Mr MacColl, 28, from Gosport in Hampshire, disappeared on May 27 while on shore leave in Dubai after his ship, HMS Westminster, docked at Port Rashid.
His wife said she was hoping to visit Dubai in the New Year to meet with all the organisations involved in the search for her husband, which is being led by Dubai Police.
"It'll be good to get out there, we've waited a long time for them to get together, so it'll be brilliant if they can swap information and I can be there as well," she said.
Mrs MacColl took her three children – Cameron, 7, Skye, 4, and baby Eriskay, who was born in September – to the studio.
She described the moment she told Cameron and Skye their dad had disappeared.
"At first their father was away, he wasn't due back until August," she said. "So I thought I'd let a few weeks [pass] before I really had to explain anything. I just explained that he was away, he just wasn't able to phone home. It wasn't unusual for that to happen.
"As time progressed and we realised he wasn't where he should have been, I decided I'd tell them and explain to them what missing meant. I had to explain that first before I could explain that their dad was missing.
"It was hard for them to understand, they're very young. They understand now that he's lost and people are looking for him."
Mr MacColl was last seen getting into a taxi alone outside the Rock Bottom Cafe at the Regent Palace Hotel in Bur Dubai just after 2am.
"There's lots of scenarios," said Mrs MacColl, 25. "I've only got the word of a couple of sailors that they put him in a taxi. They say they put him in a taxi and the taxi drove off.
"After that there's nothing. There's no confirmation or evidence that something happened along the route from him getting in the taxi and to the ship."
Supporters on the Bring Timmy Home Facebook page praised Mrs MacColl's appearance on the show.
One, Joanne Crawshaw, said: "Moved to tears by Rachael's bravery, let's hope that this new publicity will get Timmy home for Christmas. The children are adorable, they need their daddy home."
Anyone with information about Mr MacColl should call Dubai Police headquarters on 04 222 9222 or Al Rafa police station on 04 393 7777, quoting case number 71802012.
