‘We were having great time’ says missing man’s girl

(CNS): Lisa Beck revealed her anguish Wednesday morning as she spoke about the moments before her fiancé, Nathan Clarke, seemed to disappear into thin air. In a missing person case that has the RCIPS and everyone baffled, Nathan was there one moment, a short distance away from where his girlfriend and other friends were sitting outside Calico Jack's, and gone the next. He has not been seen since around 8:30pm on Saturday evening (25 February) when the couple were relaxing and enjoying themselves with friends from overseas who were visiting Lisa and Nathan, who live in West Bay. 

“We were just having a great time; we were happy,” Lisa said. The couple, who have been together for eight years and had been hoping to stay in Cayman for some time, had been enjoying drinks at sunset. Lisa said they were having fun because they had been on holiday from work that week.

They were not drunk, although they had enjoyed some beers at Calico Jack's. She said that just before he disappeared, Nathan was just hanging down by the water’s edge. She said she did not see him speaking to anyone on the beach and although it was dark, it was fairly quiet with few people around and there was no loud music. Lisa recalled how she could see him just a short distance away. She turned around to chat for a few minutes with the couple’s friends, and when she looked back he had gone.

Assuming that he had just walked on a little, Lisa said, the crowd also began to walk along the beach. After about a half hour, when it was clear Nathan was no longer near her or their other friends, she tried calling his phone and texting but to no avail. She said that the phone did not ring but went to Nathan’s voice mail.

Describing her fiancé, Lisa said he used to be a watersports instructor and was amazing with young people. She said he was a fantastic kayaker and that he windsurfed, sailed and loved to be on the water. He was also a keen traveller, she said, so when she got a job here in the Cayman Islands, Nathan had jumped at the chance to come.

At first Nathan had taken a job working on the beach with a watersports operator, but when the couple decided they would like to stay longer and because he missed teaching and being around kids, he took a job as a teachers' aide at Cayman Prep and began studying for a qualification in education.

Lisa said it would be completely out of character for Nathan to go off and do something without telling her because the couple did everything together.

Supported at the press conference Wednesday morning by her parents, who have just arrived in Cayman, Lisa thanked the volunteers and said the RCIPS had been very supportive throughout the ordeal.

Her parents also expressed their gratitude for the kindness people in Cayman had shown to their daughter as they helped in the search for Nathan. Lisa’s father, Philip Beck, described Nathan as an easy going, extremely likeable person. He said the support from the community during the search was a testament to the kind of person he was.

The officer in charge of the enquiry revealed that four days into the search for Nathan there were no indications or evidence that could point to what had happened to the 31-year-old man, but he said they would not give up hope. DS Marlon Bodden said more than 25 officers and dozens of volunteers, along with specialist dogs, were all involved in the search.

Althpugh the police helicopter was overseas for a previously scheduled service in order to comply with civil aviation regulations, he said the police were utilizing the marine vessels and the mosquito control and the MRCU fixed-wing aircraft was being deployed in the search.

The search is continuing on both land and sea from the area Nathan was last seen out towards Salt Creek and Governor’s Beach, and police were widening the search as volunteers continued to support police teams.

CCTV footage is being taken from units at local business and condos and the signal on Nathan’s phone formed part of the enquiry. However, Bodden said that for operational reasons he could not reveal the details regarding the signals from the handset, which has not yet been recovered.

Anyone with information or pictures and footage of Nathan from Saturday evening can contact the RCIPS on on 949 3999 or 949 3990 or email nathanclarkeinfo@yahoo.com

For informaiton on joining the searches contact the RCIPS command point at public beach.

Also visit the Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/groups/161736110612977 – Find Nathan

See latest development here: Missing-man's-phone-found