The desperate family of a senior who went missing four weeks ago today are increasingly worried about his safety.

Mervyn Grant, the brother-in-law of Robert Douglas, 71, said: “We’re hanging in there as best we can.”

He explained: “In the early stages, my sister was very distraught, but now she takes every day as it comes.

“She’s trying to keep hope alive, but she realises that the more time passes, it can be a bit more daunting and difficult.

“It has been a while. He hasn’t been sighted.”

Mr Grant, whose sister, Roma, is the missing senior’s wife, added: “She wants her husband back home, but we also understand that the longer this goes on, it gets more difficult because if a person has been missing for this length of time, we are concerned about how is he surviving.

“Has he got some shelter? Where is he sheltering? How is he being fed?

“Those are basic things we need to survive. If we don’t have those basic things we need to survive, it’s going to be quite difficult.

“His children are worried, his family is deeply concerned. We want him to come back home.”

Mr Douglas, who has Alzheimer’s disease, was last seen near his home on My Lord’s Bay Lane in Hamilton Parish at about 4pm on March 24.

He is known to walk to the Crawl Hill Esso service station and the Shelly Bay MarketPlace.

His brother-in-law added that Mr Douglas also liked to travel into Hamilton by bus, where he would spend time before he returned home on public transport.

Mr Grant said: “He would just pick up and go out, but he would always come home before dark.”

He added that people had reported sightings of Mr Douglas, a father of four, in the first few days after he went missing, but there had been no confirmed sightings since then.

Mr Grant said that both sides of Mr Douglas’s family were “very concerned about his welfare and safe return”.

He added: “We have scoured the whole island looking for him and we cannot find him.”

Mr Grant said that police continued their efforts to find his brother-in-law, who spent a lot of time in the Friswells Hill and Curving Avenue areas as a child.

Commissioner of Police Stephen Corbishley repeated the appeal for the public to look out for the senior.

Mr Douglas, formerly affiliated with the Devonshire Colts football club, worked at The Royal Gazette before he became an insurance salesman and later a taxi driver.

He is 6ft 3in, of slim build, has a dark complexion and was last seen wearing a faded blue hat, a blue sweat top with a dark, long-sleeved shirt underneath, long black sweatpants, long red socks and black sneakers with a white trim.

Mr Grant asked the public: “I understand at this time we’re on lockdown, but please be on lookout for him and if you see him please notify the appropriate authorities.

“He’s easily noticeable, he’s 6ft 3in tall, so you can’t miss him.

“During this time that we’re going to be on lockdown, while you’re out shopping, going to the pharmacy or you’re out walking your walk, please look out for him.”

Anyone with information that could help the inquiry should contact police on 247-1624 or ring 911.