Help him, don't hide him

Wednesday 15 January 2020

If you know where Matthew Bourgaize is, you are asked to help him, by telling Guernsey Police so they can get him the support he really needs.

That is the message from the officer leading the search for the 29-year-old who hasn't been seen since Saturday.

Pictured: Acting Superintendent Clare Cuthbert speaking at a press conference earlier this week following the disappearance of Matthew Bourgaize. 

Acting Superintendent Clare Cutherbert acknowledged the disappearance is quite an unusual case for Guernsey but said officers are equipped to deal with it.

"We have a team of officers working on this, and we are very fortunate here that our training is all based on UK good practice and our officers often go off-island to the UK to complete the relevant courses, just the same as our UK counterparts so I am confident that we've got the right team that can complete these investigations in the best way possible.

"We have specialist officers, search team officers, to help us to try and track him down in an open space."

Mr Bourgaize hasn't been seen since he walked out of the Oberlands facility, at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, at 14:50 on Saturday afternoon. He was having an approved visit with loved ones as his treatment was said to be going well. His disappearance has come as a big surprise to his mum, girlfriend and other relatives and friends, so Acting Superintendent Cuthbert said they are not ruling anything out at this stage. 

It's not known if he is out in the open somewhere, lying low, or if he has taken shelter at a friend's house.  

Officers have been visiting the homes of a long list of people known to Mr Bourgaize and they've been checking areas he is known to frequent. For now the search is the  "number one priority" for Guernsey Police, said Acting Superintendent Cuthbert, but she said the search is just focused on the island for now as he's not believed to have travelled anywhere else. 

"As time goes on the focus of our investigation is to appeal to the public, we will continue with our searches around the island and if necessary if we get any intelligence at all that leads us off island then we will follow those enquiries.

"We can never rule it out completely, but when he left the Oberlands he had no identification on him as far as we know, so it would limit the method in which he could leave the island. Obviously we would appeal to anyone, a boat owner, if they've been approached by Matthew and if they can supply us with those details. 

"It's difficult to liaise with other agencies when we really don't know to be able to alert them, but obviously our officers on the ports are well aware of Matthew's disappearance."

By Tuesday night Jersey police weren't involved as the search remained focused in Guernsey. 

Pictured: Matthew Bourgaize hasn't been seen since he left the Oberlands centre on Saturday 11 January. 

"It is the number one priority for Guernsey Police, and has been since Saturday," said Acting Superintendent Cuthbert. "This is a vulnerable male who is out there in the community who should be back at the Oberlands Centre. He is on medication and he needs that medication. We have a team of officers trained specifically in this type of investigation so as I say it is our number one priority.

"There are lots of lines of enquiries, he could be outside, but unfortunately he could be becoming confused without his medication and there are all sorts of possibilities. He could have gotten himself into a situation that he doesn't know how to get out of, and what we are saying is, if anyone sees him, we need him to get that help and support. As far as we know he has no medication on him."

"I think what we're asking the public to do is to contact us immediately. That's the safest and the best way to get Matthew the help he needs."

While there is nothing to suggest that Mr Bourgaize is in anyway a threat to anyone, Guernsey Police are asking the public to help them, but allow officers to deal with the situation. If anyone sees Mr Bourgaize or thinks they have some information which may help the search for him, they should call the police station immediately on 725111.

Acting Superintendent Cuthbert also said Guernsey Police do not want the public searching for Mr Bourgaize.

"These areas have all been searched, but what we are not doing is revealing those locations because what we don't want is members of the public themselves to put themselves in any danger. It's best that we leave trained police officers to search those areas, but the family are helping us with those areas and assisting us with those searches."

For more on the search for missing man Matthew Bourgaize go to the stories below:

There's been "no sign of missing man since Saturday"

WATCH the Guernsey Police press conference into the disappearance of Matthew Bourgaize

Guernsey Police have released three images of missing man Matthew Bourgaize

Pictured top: Matthew Bourgaize hasn't been seen since he left the Oberlands centre on Saturday 11 January. This was the last image of him as he was caught on CCTV leaving the facility.