Almost one month after the disappearance of Gillian Merrick, the police have made significant progress in the search yet are still unsure as to what happened to the 45 year old mother of two, while the Merrick family are continuing their pleas to Gillian for her to return home.

Over the last week local police forces working on the case arrested 49 year old Mr Merrick in relation with his wife’s disappearance. Having been arrested last Thursday Mr Merrick was released on bail later in the day pending further questioning. Mr Merrick who has appeared in a number of interviews including one on GMTV in which he protested how he has ‘nothing to hide’ and how he “was happy with anything that could be done in the progress towards finding Gill”. Police say they are increasingly concerned for Mrs. Merrick’s safety, but are also investigating the possibility that she may have gone abroad, since her passport is missing, along with her daughter Charlotte’s. Investigations have led the search team as far as Bahrain, where Mr. Merrick lived for 10 years before moving to the UK. Press officer Patrick Mears stated yesterday that “We have been in contact with Interpol, but not Bahrain specifically.”

Last week Charlotte Merrick wrote an emotional poem to her mother pleading for her safe return. In the poem Charlotte wrote:

“To my lovely mum, It’s home I wish you’ll come, I miss you so and want you to know, every time that I wake I feel my heart break. It’s you that Dad misses, with your hugs and your kisses, Tom and I feel so sad, but only you can make us glad, So our family’s simple plea, is it’s you we want to see. Please come home Mum.”

Charlotte’s brother Tom has also publicly expressed his concern for his mother when he appeared alongside Mr Merrick on GMTV. The 15 year old boy who recently sat a GCSE exam spoke of how the whole family was distraught and he was trying his best to cope with the situation.

Mr Merrick has also left a number of personal messages for Gill. In one of these he tells his wife “Gillian, please don’t worry about the current publicity in the media and elsewhere. Our concern is your welfare and how we can build to be an even stronger family than before. All my love, Nick.”