THE family of a man who has been missing for more than four months say they were told by police to 'expect the worst'.
Derek Brant, 63, from Kidlington, was last seen at around 3pm on July 24 near St Anne’s Annex, South Parade, Summertown.
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His niece Sadie Wilkinson has been desperately trying to find him since, spreading the word about his disappearance through posters and social media.
The charity 'Missing People' have also assisted on searches but as time goes on the family are becoming more and more worried.
A picture of Derek:
Sadie, who is 30, said: "To be honest the police have told us to expect the worst at some point. They think he (Derek) has had a medical issue while walking around and getting confused.
"I feel he’s probably quite local but it’s getting colder and darker so we're really worried. We are still sharing appeals on Facebook weekly even though it's been a long time because you never know if someone might remember something and it could help in some way."
Searches have been carried out in empty buildings, wooded areas as well as underwater in the Thames.
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Sadie added: "It’s good they are still looking for him. If there are any sightings they will still go as long as information is given. Lots of people have been nice asking how they can help."
She is pleading with people to check barns, private woodlands, caravans and abandoned properties and is asking walkers to remember Derek is missing while out and about.
Derek works at St Anne’s College in Oxford in the maintenance team and his family believe he may have dementia after experiencing symptoms.
He is known to walk in Kidlington and Summertown, sometimes helping the local community with litter picking.
In September, Sadie posted CCTV footage on her Facebook page taken from outside C S Boswells Funeral Directors in Summertown, which shows Derek walking down the Banbury Road two days before he went missing.
She hoped it would help to jog people’s memory of her uncle.
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The last time she saw him was a couple of weeks before he went missing when she took him to a hospital appointment.
Sadie said: "It’s difficult, we can’t just give up our jobs to search for him. We feel quite exhausted - both mentally and physically. We can’t believe that this could happen - that someone could just disappear.
"If you have any information, don't feel it's too late. Maybe it’s somewhere we haven’t looked. It's awful but we still need to keep looking – he’s out there."
A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police confirmed Derek remains missing and the investigation is ongoing.
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