Norwich wrestler Ricky Knight has broken down in tears speaking of the disappearance of his wife and fellow performer Sweet Saraya more than a fortnight ago.
Mr Wright, a well-known figure in the city, said his 33-year-old partner had been suffering from depression and an eating disorder, and on the night he last saw her they had had a row.
She drove off to stay with her sister in Yarmouth and an hour later she rang to leave an emotional message.
“She left a message saying, ‘I can’t come home tonight. I love you and the kids’,” he wept.
Police in Norwich have appealed for the wrestling champion – real name Julia Hamer – to get in touch with them or her family to let them know she is safe.
Although she was last seen by Ricky at about 10pm on Friday, August 26, she did ring a mutual friend of theirs at 11.10pm the following Friday.
She told him that she was sleeping in the car, that her mother and sister did not want to know her and that she was feeling depressed.
Ms Hamer was 18 when she met Ricky – real name Patrick Frary – while working at Pontin’s in Hemsby.
She began managing his tagteam The Superflys, but she then took up wrestling herself and went on to become the World Association of Wrestling British Women’s Champion.
As well as running the wrestling federation with her husband, the couple also previously ran two Norwich pubs – the Plough in St Benedict’s and the Wrestlers’ Arms in Vauxhall Street.
Ricky admitted they had endured a “horrendous year”.
Their autistic son had been in trouble with the police, Julia had lost her favourite dog of 14 years, and there had been the fifth anniversary of a close friend’s death.
They also had financial worries as they were constantly waiting to be paid for wrestling events in which they had taken part up and down the country.
Both of them had been depressed in recent months and Julia’s weight had dropped to alarming levels.
He said: “She was down to about eight stone and she looked like a drug addict – she was that low. The last time she was in Hellesdon [Hospital] she was five stone.
“The last time I saw her we went for a meal and had a chat, and she was ultra-depressed and said she would go to her mother’s in Sheffield for a couple of weeks. She started going up the road, but she spoke to her mother and she did not want to know. So she drove off, saying she was going to her sister’s in Yarmouth.”
She had her passport, which she always carried, and a bank card, but took only the clothes she was wearing. She is travelling in a white, M-registered Honda Civic.
“I just want her back in the family – whatever is wrong, we can get over it,” said Ricky.
“She is our world at the end of the day. No one can believe it because we are the closest-knit family anywhere.”
Her 13-year-old daughter Saraya added: “I just want her to come home. I don’t like seeing dad upset.”
Anyone with any information regarding her whereabouts should contact police via 0845 4564567.
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