The husband of missing Tina Satchwell says he suspects she needed “time” when she vanished four years ago.
In an exclusive interview, Richard Satchwell said he believes his wife is alive and that she may have moved on with her life “and found some form of happiness".
This week marks the fourth anniversary of Tina's unexplained disappearance - with her last being seen at her home in Youghal, East Cork, where she lived with Richard on March 20, 2017.
And in his only interview ahead of that devastating date this Friday, Richard says he hasn’t given up on the hope that his wife is alive.
“I'll have hope, and I hope she is safe, even if she has moved on with her own life,” he told us.
We asked Richard what he suspects happened to Tina, now four years on from her bizarre disappearance.
“I think she needed time, and maybe she found some form of happiness, but I don't know, all I can do is hope,” Richard said.
And in a message directly to his wife, he added: “To Tina, the hurt and pain of you leaving the way you did can't be put into words. But even though, I'm still willing to try to put things behind us and work through any problems.”
Richard says he can remember his wife being “upset” in the days before she apparently left his home on the main street of Youghal, without leaving a note or any sign as to why she was gone.
“This time of year hard I remember the upset in her leading up her leaving, and the shock and horror as time went by."
But he says he won’t divulge what that upset was about - and says it’s up to Tina herself to come out and tell people what was wrong.
“That’s not something for the public. It’s private. If she wants people to know, she can be the one to tell. Sorry but I think it’s best,” he said.
Richard says the past four years have been incredibly hard for him, and he says though he puts on a brave face in public, he is miserable without his wife.
“I put a face on things at work and when I go shopping but I go home to misery,” he said.
And in an emotional appeal to the public, Richard says there are tell-tale signs about Tina that people should watch out for, in case they do bump into her in public.
"What people would remember other than her fashion is her kindness. She would do anything to help people, especially older people,” he said.
The past few weeks have been especially traumatic for Richard and Tina’s families, as gardai discovered the remains of a female in woodlands near Midleton in Cork.
The remains, which were found in January, were tested for some time - including to see if they possibly could have been Tina.
Richard was informed of the discovery and had to wait an agonising two months for test results to come back, determining that the remains belonged to a woman who was aged 70 or older at the time of her death.
At this stage, gardai investigating Tina's disappearance have looked into almost 400 separate lines of enquiry - including liaising with international police forces and Interpol.
Over 100 hours of CCTV has been viewed and in excess of 170 statements have been taken.
Speaking in 2018, Richard described the last moments he spent with Tina, and how when he returned home, she had apparently vanished.
“She came downstairs. I gave her a cup of tea and a slice of toast," he said.
“Then she asked if I’d go over to Dungarvan. I gave her a peck, and said I’d see her in a couple of hours.”
Richard said he returned to an empty house occupied only by his wife’s two dogs, Ruby and Heidi, which he said was strange as she normally took them everywhere with her.
He called the gardai four days later after receiving no information from his wife or her family.
Richard also previously told how gardai questioned him over the disappearance, and how he has “nothing to hide.”
"I have been asked questions but I haven’t been cautioned.
“It got back to me through a member of my family that they were asking, what I thought as unfair questions, about do they think that I could harm my wife. I came back to the gardai here in Youghal and I made a complaint. I wouldn’t lift a finger to my wife.
“It was very upsetting. I felt that it was unfair. But then as your brain starts clearing a small bit, you understand they’ve got this routine that they go through.
“They searched the house when I was up the country. I didn’t know that they were going to search it but now they have a key to enter whenever they like.
“I’ve told the truth. I’ve nothing to hide.”
Tina is described as 5’ 7’’, of medium build with blonde shoulder-length hair and blue eyes.
