EXCLUSIVE: ‘My wife saw me off to work 10 years ago – she hasn’t been seen since’
Doting wife and mother Fatima Mohamed-Ali was last seen on CCTV walking away from her home in Newhaven, East Sussex, in February 2016
Mohamed’s wife Fatima has been missing for 10 years
The morning of February 12 2016 looked like any other for Fatima Mohamed-Ali.
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.
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.
Fatima never usually left the house on foot
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’s car pulled away. She has never been seen since.
A decade on, Mohamed is no closer to finding out what happened to his beloved wife and hopes speaking out will jog someone’s memory. He told the Mirror: “My nightmare began that day and I’ve been living it ever since.
“It has turned me and my children’s lives upside down – we can’t focus, we don’t celebrate anything. I’m 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 – 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.”
Mohamed says Fatima’s disappearance turned his life “upside down”(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Mohamed, 66, met Fatima in Tanzania in the early 1980s and describes their 38-year marriage as “very happy.” 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.
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.
“I 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 album, but it was silent – and I knew immediately something was wrong,” he said.
Mohamed believes Fatima could still be alive(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
“I thought maybe she was upstairs doing some ironing so I gave her a couple of shouts but didn’t 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.”
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.”
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’s former work colleagues reported a sighting near a bus stop in Brighton.
Fatima left her phone and wedding ring at the family home(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Grainy CCTV appeared to show Fatima’s back view, and Mohamed and his son were 70 per cent sure it was her. But Mohamed fears police didn’t take the sighting seriously. He added: “Since then there’s been no contact – I’ve tried to contact them, no reply, emailed, no reply. It’s almost like they’ve given up. The last time I spoke they said there’s nothing more.
“I don’t like to criticise the police, but I feel they didn’t make the effort to pursue the sighting. Why didn’t they look at the CCTV from neighbouring shops? Why didn’t they ask the person to identify themselves, even just to eliminate it.”
One line of inquiry is that Fatima took her own life, which Mohamed refuses to believe. He continued: “Being religious, Fatima was always strongly against self harm and things like that – she would always stress that no matter your troubles in life, don’t look at that path, God always has an answer for you.
Mohamed collected Fatima’s Valentine’s gift the day she disappeared (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
“Fatima 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.
“My children still to this day ask me if I noticed anything off about Fatima’s 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.”
Despite the agony of Fatima’s absence, Mohamed and the children keep her memory close by treasuring her possessions. “We’ve kept everything – her perfume, her jewellery and her handbags, which all still have little things in like handkerchiefs. Her wardrobe is as it was – and when the grandchildren come over, I show them her dresses and say: ‘This was your granny’s.”
Mohamed fears the police could have done more in the early stages of the investigation (Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
Detective Inspector Daniel Dugan, of East Sussex’s Missing Persons Team, said: “We absolutely understand the impact on people’s 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.
“Extensive enquiries have been carried out in the years since Fatima’s disappearance, including a number of public media appeals and liaison with national and international police colleagues as recently as 2024.
“The 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 ’s Missing Persons Policy for long-term missing people. The most recent review took place in March, 2025.
“We are continuing to appeal for information relating to Fatima’s disappearance. She is described as Indian, 5’ 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.”
If you’ve seen Fatima or have any information about her, contact Sussex Police online at https://www.sussex.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us/ or call 101 quoting Operation Accelerate.
