WORRIED mum-to-be Jane Choyce fears her missing medic husband is sleeping rough in Oxford and today appealed for him to come home to await the birth of their first child.

Jane, 30, who lives in Newcastle, launched a nationwide appeal when her husband Matthew, 34, disappeared last October.

After he vanished without saying goodbye, there were numerous sightings of the Sunderland hospital doctor sleeping rough in London. Jane has trawled the streets of the capital and searched Bath where they met, but believes her husband is staying in Oxford, following a number of recent sightings.

Her husband attended a boarding school in the city and also worked at the John Radcliffe Hospital during the 1980s when he was completing his medical training. Fellow doctor Jane said: "I am in close contact with the Missing Persons Helpline and Matthew has been seen a couple of times in Oxford.

"I also worked at the John Radcliffe, but not at the same time as Matthew. We both have strong links with the city and I believe he is now staying there.

"If Matthew reads this in the Oxford Mail, then I want to ask him to come home. I need him all the more, now I am about to give birth to our child.

"I don't know whether it is a boy or a girl but expecting a baby has kept me going during this awful time.

"Matthew seemed a very-level headed person and gave no indication he was about to disappear. There have been so many sightings of him that I am convinced he is still alive."

Jane and Matthew met in 1991 and married in September 1995. He was two weeks into a new job as senior registrar when he drove off in his car early in the morning on October 7. The vehicle was later found abandoned. "I knew immediately that something was wrong," said Jane, whose baby is due in a couple of months, said: "Matthew had been depressed for a couple of weeks about his job but I never expected this to happen."

Her husband left home without cash and has not made any contact with his parents, who live in Southend.

National Missing Persons Helpline spokeswoman Angela Holland confirmed a number of sightings of Mr Choyce in Oxford. She said: "Someone reported seeing him in a book store and it is quite possible he is still in the city."

Anyone with information should telephone 0500 700 700.

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