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<\/p>\nDoting wife and mother Fatima Mohamed-Ali was last seen on CCTV walking away from her home in Newhaven, East Sussex, in February 2016Mohamed’s wife Fatima has been missing for 10 years<\/p>\n
The morning of February 12 2016 looked like any other for Fatima Mohamed-Ali.<\/p>\n
The devoted wife and mum-of-three woke her husband Mohamed, made his breakfast and kissed him goodbye as he left for work at 7.30am.<\/p>\n
As he closed the front door, Mohamed offered to pick up some groceries on his way home, but Fatima suggested they go shopping together the following day instead.<\/p>\n
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Fatima never usually left the house on foot<\/p>\n
But the shopping trip would never happen. CCTV footage found by police shows Fatima, 52, walking briskly away from the couple’s home in Newhaven, East Sussex, just 15 minutes after Mohamed\u2019s car pulled away. She has never been seen since.<\/p>\n
A decade on, Mohamed is no closer to finding out what happened to his beloved wife and hopes speaking out will jog someone\u2019s memory. He told the Mirror<\/a>: \u201cMy nightmare began that day and I\u2019ve been living it ever since.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has turned me and my children\u2019s lives upside down \u2013 we can\u2019t focus, we don\u2019t celebrate anything. I\u2019m literally a recluse, I go to work and come home, because I think one day the bell will ring or there will be a knock at the door. There are so many thoughts going through my mind \u2013 did she go to meet somebody and something happened? Was it intentional? Did she harm herself? We just need a clue, a clue of something.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohamed says Fatima’s disappearance turned his life “upside down”(Image: Adam Gerrard \/ Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n Mohamed, 66, met Fatima in Tanzania in the early 1980s and describes their 38-year marriage as \u201cvery happy.\u201d The couple settled in Newhaven and built a house, where Mohamed still lives, shared three grown-up children and a growing brood of grandchildren, whom Fatima adored.<\/p>\n On the day his wife vanished, Mohamed had been to collect her Valentine’s present, some jewellery, from the Post Office. He is haunted by the events that followed.<\/p>\n \u201cI arrived home at around 1.30pm and expected to walk into the clatter of Fatima cooking in the kitchen and listening to her favourite George Michael or Boy George<\/a> album, but it was silent \u2013 and I knew immediately something was wrong,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mohamed believes Fatima could still be alive(Image: Adam Gerrard \/ Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n \u201cI thought maybe she was upstairs doing some ironing so I gave her a couple of shouts but didn\u2019t get any answer. I then noticed the car keys on the lounge table which I thought was odd because Fatima would never leave the house without her car.\u201d<\/p>\n Panicking, Mohamed phoned his daughter who suggested trying the local hair salon, but nobody had seen Fatima. Blind terror kicked in when he called her phone. “I heard it ringing, went upstairs and found it on her bed. I then noticed her wedding and engagement rings on the dressing table, which she never ever removed. I was panicking, sweating and in tears.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the coming days, police carried out extensive searches of the local area, including the beach and cliffs, but found no trace. The family had a glimmer of hope the following year when one of Fatima\u2019s former work colleagues reported a sighting near a bus stop in Brighton.<\/p>\n Fatima left her phone and wedding ring at the family home(Image: Adam Gerrard \/ Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n Grainy CCTV appeared to show Fatima\u2019s back view, and Mohamed and his son were 70 per cent sure it was her. But Mohamed fears police didn\u2019t take the sighting seriously. He added: \u201cSince then there\u2019s been no contact \u2013 I\u2019ve tried to contact them, no reply, emailed, no reply. It\u2019s almost like they\u2019ve given up. The last time I spoke they said there\u2019s nothing more.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t like to criticise the police, but I feel they didn\u2019t make the effort to pursue the sighting. Why didn\u2019t they look at the CCTV from neighbouring shops? Why didn\u2019t they ask the person to identify themselves, even just to eliminate it.\u201d<\/p>\n One line of inquiry is that Fatima took her own life, which Mohamed refuses to believe. He continued: \u201cBeing religious, Fatima was always strongly against self harm and things like that \u2013 she would always stress that no matter your troubles in life, don\u2019t look at that path, God always has an answer for you.<\/p>\n Mohamed collected Fatima’s Valentine’s gift the day she disappeared (Image: Adam Gerrard \/ Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n \u201cFatima would never go off the beaten track. She suffered from severe OCD that meant she was scared of getting dirty so she would never ever go walking on the beach or in grass. Even if we had a barbecue in the garden she chose to eat inside.<\/p>\n \u201cMy children still to this day ask me if I noticed anything off about Fatima\u2019s mood or behaviour in the time leading up to her disappearance, but there was nothing. Until something is found to suggest otherwise, I believe Fatima could still be out there somewhere.”<\/p>\n Despite the agony of Fatima\u2019s absence, Mohamed and the children keep her memory close by treasuring her possessions. \u201cWe\u2019ve kept everything – her perfume, her jewellery and her handbags, which all still have little things in like handkerchiefs. Her wardrobe is as it was \u2013 and when the grandchildren come over, I show them her dresses and say: \u2018This was your granny\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohamed fears the police could have done more in the early stages of the investigation (Image: Adam Gerrard \/ Daily Mirror)<\/p>\n Detective Inspector Daniel Dugan, of East Sussex\u2019s Missing Persons<\/a> Team, said: \u201cWe absolutely understand the impact on people\u2019s families and loved ones when they are reported missing. From the moment Fatima Mohamed-Ali was reported missing in February, 2016, we have worked tirelessly to locate her and provide her family with the answers they deserve.<\/p>\n \u201cExtensive enquiries have been carried out in the years since Fatima\u2019s disappearance, including a number of public media appeals and liaison with national and international police colleagues as recently as 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cThe investigation remains open and we will always follow up any new lines of enquiry. This investigation is reviewed regularly by a senior investigating officer, and will continue for as long as Fatima is considered missing, in line with Sussex Police<\/a> \u2019s Missing Persons Policy for long-term missing people. The most recent review took place in March, 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are continuing to appeal for information relating to Fatima\u2019s disappearance. She is described as Indian, 5\u2019 2″, of slim build with shoulder-length black hair worn in a ponytail. She likes to wear a traditional Indian dress under a beige coat.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Man](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_AGP_MDM_10072025_MISSING_015JPG.jpg\")
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