Panic gripped as strong tremors jolted New Delhi and the adjoining areas
On Friday, 10 years would have passed since the disappearance of Timmy MacColl, but there are still no answers to what happened to him.
On May 27, 2012, the 27-year-old British sailor stepped out of a café in Dubai and took a cab for Port Rashid where his warship HMS Westminster was docked. He was never seen again.
A decade on, the mystery still remains unsolved.
In April 2014, the father-of-three was officially declared dead, presumed drowned, by the UK’s Royal Navy, despite objections from his family.
Ahead of the 10th anniversary of Timmy’s disappearance, his mother Sheena MacColl has demanded a fresh probe into the incident, claiming someone knows what happened to her son.
“We still haven’t got closure. I believe there are people who know what happened to Timmy. I do not believe he fell in the water as there was a safety net around his ship,” Sheena, 58, told Khaleej Times over the phone from the UK.
“Timmy’s children are grown up now. They need answers. There are many loose ends...Someone knows something but has not come forward for whatever reason...I know Timmy. He was my son. He would not have put us through this if he was still alive. I’d appeal to anyone who has information to come forward. The Royal Navy thinks he died by drowning. If this were true, then where is his body? His body was never found,” added Sheena who work as a sales assistant.
The Leading Seaman from Scotland was last seen getting into a cab outside the Rock Bottom Café, then located in Bur Dubai, around 2am on May 27, 2012.
The café has now relocated.
Timmy’s shipmates said he was headed to his ship. However, he never made it on board.
The Royal Navy reported him missing the same day. An investigation was subsequently launched by Dubai Police and UK authorities.
Hours of CCTV footage was examined. The cabbie, who picked Timmy, was questioned and the port area was searched by divers, dogs and helicopter for days.
When the massive manhunt yielded no result, a British Royal Navy minesweeper, equipped with hi-tech cameras and sensors was pressed into service along the coastline, but nothing turned up.
Over the next few weeks, scores of leads were chased but none panned out.
In June 2012, Timmy’s wife Rachel, then pregnant with daughter Eriskay, came to Dubai with Sheena seeking answers. But with the case making little headway, they went back. Rachel returned to Dubai in January 2013. But this time too, she couldn’t find any new information.
In April 2014, Timmy was declared dead by the UK Royal Navy. They believed he fell into the sea while boarding the ship and drowned, and that his body was dragged away after being caught in the propeller blade of another vessel. However, Timmy’s body was never found and his mother says she’s yet to get closure.
Panic gripped as strong tremors jolted New Delhi and the adjoining areas
This initiative is a part of the Dubai Police's ongoing efforts to support and provide for its employees
When we think about children and screens, let’s also consider the relationship between adults and their TVs and smartphones. Watch cable news (where grandparents get their news), and you’ll see a discourse dominated by fear and anger
As countries across the world attempt to slow global warming, the switch to electric vehicles is particularly significant. But that requires wrenching change that is a death knell for hundreds of companies that make components for conventional engines. They will be obsolete in an EV world
While concerns about the geopolitical order, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have understandably been in the spotlight, water is rarely discussed outside the context of humanitarian responses to local, national, or transboundary floods or droughts
Epicentre was in Hindu Kush mountain range, near the remote northern Afghan province of Badakhshan
Traders largely expect a 25-basis-point rate hike from the Fed on Wednesday
The Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs did not receive any report or testimonies from sky gazers