DUBAI // The wife of missing British seaman Timmy MacColl is closing down the Bring Timmy Home Facebook group because it has become a constant reminder of the loss she has suffered.
The group attracted more than 100,000 members who provided comfort and support to Rachael MacColl and the rest of the family in the months since Mr MacColl, 28, disappeared while on shore leave in Dubai.
The shutdown comes after mother-of-three Mrs MacColl, 26, from Gosport in Hampshire visited Dubai last month to meet the police officers who had been hunting for her husband. She said she was satisfied that extensive searches had been carried out, but no conclusion had been reached about his whereabouts.
"It has now been over a year since I last saw my husband and things have changed dramatically," she told members of the group. "Your extensive campaigning on our behalf has been heartwarming and has yielded great results."
However she continued: "The campaign to Bring Timmy Home is no longer fitting and unfortunately due to this changes need to be made.
"In light of recent events I have come to the decision to close the Facebook group. Me and the children now need to come to terms with the fact that we have to live our lives without Timmy.
"This group is now serving as a constant reminder of what I have lost and is having an adverse effect on our lives."
Mr MacColl, 28, disappeared on May 27 last year after his ship, HMS Westminster, docked at Port Rashid.
He was last seen stepping into a taxi alone outside the Rock Bottom Cafe at the Regent Palace Hotel in Bur Dubai just after 2am.