THE TIPPERARY man who has been missing for 10 days buried a close friend just days before he vanished.
Andrew Goldsboro was last seen stepping outside his home in Leagrave, Luton, to have a cigarette before going to bed.
But more than a week later police have been unable to confirm any sightings of the 78-year-old.
“We believe in the power of prayer and I believe that God will protect Dad wherever he is until we can get him back,” Mr Goldsboro’s daughter Nuala told The Irish Post.
But she added that after “racking our brains” about the days before his disappearance, the family has started to worry that the retired maintenance engineer may have been depressed when he wandered off.
“Dad had been to a lot of funerals recently and one of his friends died the week before he went missing,” Nuala explained.
“And as somebody saw him at the funeral, they said: “Well you are the last man standing now Andy because they are all dead.”
“That is really sad. And he is a very sensitive person, so I think he might have gotten a bit depressed over everything.”
The fears compound worries previously voiced to The Irish Post that Mr Goldsboro may have been suffering from memory loss.
But if he had been depressed, Ms Goldsboro said he showed no signs of it.
“We keep beating ourselves up thinking we should have spotted something, but there isn’t,” she added.
Mr Goldsboro was last seen by his wife Bernadette, a Donegal native, at 7.15pm on Sunday, November 3.
Andrew Goldsboro has been missing since November 3On the day he disappeared, the Ballingarry man sat down to watch television after speaking on the phone with his brother in Ireland and one of his daughters in Dubai.
But he decided to go to bed early after he found himself falling asleep. That sparked the start of his evening ritual, which ended when he took out his teeth and went outside for a cigarette.
The last time his wife saw him was when he walked out the door.
When Mr Goldsboro did not return for 15 minutes she wandered outside to see if he had fallen, but could not find him in the garden or down the road.
Since then police have failed to confirm potential sightings on Sunday evening or Monday morning because they lacked CCTV evidence.
Ms Goldsboro admitted the absence of any recent sightings has worried the family as it tries to take things “one day at a time”.
“But no news is good news,” she added.
“There are so many people out looking for Dad that the police said they can guarantee that if he had fallen over in the street we would have found him. And I believe that.
“We do not know whether he is dazed and confused somewhere or if he found his way back early last week, saw all the police cars outside the house and thought: “Oh my God what have I done?” before running off again.”
The family has also been lifted by the huge response of the local community.
Thousands of people have joined the search effort by sharing stories about Mr Goldsboro’s disappearance online.
His status as a “pillar of society” was most in evidence earlier this week when Bernadette went to mass.
She would normally have gone with her husband, described as a “pillar of society” because of his heavy involvement in the local Catholic community.
“My sister took my mum to mass on Monday morning because that is something she would do with Dad every day,” explained Nuala.
“And she said it was incredible, that it was like an audience with the Pope.
“People were queuing in the church to speak to her and were all crying. That just shows how much Dad is loved.”
Mr Goldsboro is 5’9” tall, with a medium build and a bald head and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing glasses, a watch with a brown strap and a red coloured anorak.
Anyone with information relating to Mr Goldsboro’s whereabouts is asked to contact Bedfordshire Police on 101 or text information to 07786 200 011.
