'It doesn't feel right, there's something more to it' Sister’s desperate concern for missing brother

A woman has spoken of her concern for her brother, who has been missing in Rhondda for three weeks. Mark Bowden, 38, was last seen in the Stanleytown area of Rhondda Cynon Taff, at around 7.30pm on his birthday - Thursday, March 28.

Mark also has contacts with Bridgend, and although several people have come forward with possible sightings, these have turned out to be false alarms. His sister, Karen Mellor, told WalesOnline that the last person to see him was his dad after he and his friend had gone to buy some drinks to celebrate with that night.

She said: "Him and his friend had gone to buy a couple of drinks to have some drinks in the house that night to celebrate his birthday. And when they got back, Mark told his friend that he was off to see his Dad, and he'd only be ten minutes but never returned home." For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter.

READ MORE: Concern growing for man who has been missing for five days

READ MORE: Man disappears without phone, key, and wallet as police 'concerned'

She added: "He did go to visit him - our Dad isn't very well and has just started chemo and Mark had come up with a cold so they just had a ten minute conversation on his drive and that was the last time he was in contact with anyone and that was in Pencoed, and then the last time he was spotted was in Stanleytown, but we don't know why he was up there.

"He'd rang my mum the day before, as her birthday is on the 27th, and had had a panic attack that day, but one of his house mates had been in touch with us saying he was absolutely fine so we don't quite know what's happened. We're just devastated and the more time's going on, the more it just doesn't make sense to why nobody has seen him. He's always contacting some of his friends or something and always going somewhere - it's just the not knowing and it doesn't feel right, there's something more to it.

"He's sometimes gone on a bit of a walkabout but he's always back within 24 hours to his house or he knows he can always come here whenever he wants to my house", Karen explained.

Since Mark's disappearance, Karen has been spreading the word wherever possible asking people to get in touch with South Wales Police if they think they may have spotted him or have any information. She had an older brother who went missing and unfortunately died by suicide, so going through the process of having another family member go missing has been a challenge for her over recent weeks, as her concern for Mark is now growing..

She said: "I've been sharing posts into loads of different community hubs and community pages so his face is not forgotten and hopefully something will come. We've had a few possible sightings but nothing has come to anything and they haven't been him.

"Everybody has been fantastic and we're all keeping an eye out for him and everyone is sharing the posts so I'd like to say thank you to them all. If anybody knows anything, please get in contact so we know he's ok. He's got family and friends here and he needs to come home. I really do hope he is out there somewhere, I really do."

Anyone with information about Mark's whereabouts is urged to contact South Wales Police by live chat, email at swp101@south-wales. police.uk, or by calling 101, quoting reference number 2400101910. In an emergency always call 999. Join our WhatsApp news community here for the latest breaking news.