The sudden disappearance of a vicar from a Kent seaside parish - leaving his wife and two little boys distraught - sent shockwaves through the community.
The Rev Michael Aikman had only been in post at St Alphege Church in Whitstable for less than 18 months and was dealing with the challenges of his first position as a priest in charge.
But, 25 years ago, on the night of June 28, 1999, he simply vanished from the vicarage, never to be seen again - sparking a mystery that has never been solved.
As the weeks, months and then years passed, his heartbroken family were forced to accept that he wasn’t coming home.
But there was a clue that he was troubled as he left a brief note explaining he had almost double-booked two weddings, wanted to clear his head and was “going away”.
And when the 35-year-old’s blue Ford Sierra was found on the clifftop at St Margaret’s near Dover, it added to the fears that something tragic had befallen him.
Yet with no discovery of his body, his family, including wife Ruth, could not bring themselves to believe he had done the unthinkable and taken his own life.
At the time, KentOnline’s sister paper the Whitstable Gazette reported that The Rev Aikman had been “suffering from the pressure of work”.
Members of the public were asked to look out for the vicar, described as 6ft 2in tall, thin, and clean-shaven, with pale blue eyes. He was thought to be wearing dark blue jeans, a t-shirt with a green stripe and black lace-up shoes.
Ten days after his disappearance, Acting Sgt Clay Walker told the newspaper: “There have been one or two sightings of people in the area vaguely fitting his description which have been checked out but so far he has not been found.
“We are concerned but remain hopeful.”
The Rev John Wood, a member of The Rev Aikman’s team ministry, described him as “an extremely able and competent priest”.
He said: “He has done an enormous amount of good work at his church. We all find this situation very hard to come to terms with and would very much like to see him back safe and sound.”
The Gazette then later reported how police had been searching soup kitchens and homeless hostels for the missing vicar - but there had been no further potential sightings.
Karen Champs of Champs Bakery in the town’s Oxford Street told the newspaper: “I still can’t believe it. He was lovely, so kind and gentle.
“I was talking to him a few days before and he seemed fine. It just proves you don’t know what goes on.”
Almost a month after The Rev Aikman went missing, his wife Ruth appealed via the Gazette for her husband to “just come home - we all miss you very much”.
At this point, police were still searching for the vicar and remained confident that he could be found.
Mrs Aikman, who had last seen her husband at 11pm on June 28, said: “It has all been rather traumatic. I have no idea what happened.
“It was a perfectly normal day. He had been to the weekly meeting of clergy to discuss the week’s business and he was fine.
“He had been doing nothing out of the ordinary.”
She added: “He loved his job. He was very happy here.”
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper a year after his disappearance, she said: “I remember going up to bed and the next morning coming down to find that he'd gone.
“He'd left the note, saying that he wanted to clear his head. I expected him to be back by lunchtime.
“The hardest thing is not knowing whether he will come back, whether he is living a new life, or whether he's dead.
“What has happened is so out of character for Michael. He really enjoyed his job and was much appreciated. I have no idea why he drove off that night.”
Ruth was sure her husband could still be alive, largely because his body was never been found.
“I think the fact that he parked his car by St Margaret's cliff was merely a coincidence,” she said.
“All I want is for him to get in touch. I miss him, the children miss him. They are always asking about him. The whole thing has been incredibly painful and upsetting.”
The Rev Aikman had arrived in Whitstable in 1998 to take up his new appointment, having previously been a curate in Andover.
Speaking at the time, the then churchwarden John Legg, said he had seen him three days before his disappearance and described him as apparently “very happy and entirely normal”.
"As you can imagine, the congregation is distressed by what has happened and we are extremely shocked,” he said.
“We find it hard to believe because the whole matter was totally unexpected and out of character. People are very distressed."
In 2005, his sister Amanda Coxhead, who lives in Devizes in Wiltshire, did a sponsored walk to raise money for the National Missing Persons Helpline.
Mrs Coxhead, a civil servant, told the Wiltshire Gazette and Herald: "We have no idea why Michael went missing. We had no indication it would happen but you just can't know what's in someone's mind.”
Following Michael’s disappearance, she searched for him in Andover and Southampton, where he used to live, and also Avebury, which he visited.
"Without Michael, there's a hole in my life,” she said.
“I think about him every day and particular things will trigger a memory, such as if I hear a song he likes or see a book I think he would enjoy reading, but I can't ring him and tell him about it."
The law states that seven years must pass for a missing person to be presumed dead, and, in The Rev Aikman’s case, probate was eventually granted in November 2010.
A Kent Police spokesman told KentOnline this week: “There have been no new sightings or information since the disappearance of Michael Aikman in 1999.”
They added: “Kent Police has a dedicated team of officers helping to find people who go missing and while an investigation may no longer be active, a review is carried out periodically and any new information coming to light will be acted upon.”
A Diocese of Canterbury spokesperson said: ‘Anniversaries can be a difficult time for the loved ones of missing people.
“We continue to pray for the family of Michael Aikman and the entire St Alphage community.
“We would like to raise awareness of the charity Missing People who provide support for those affected by a disappearance or thinking of going missing.”
Mrs Aikman continued living in Whitstable, raising her boys, until a couple of years ago when she moved away from the area.
