Desperate appeal after club boss goes missing

THE family of a nightclub manager who disappeared on his short walk to work have launched a desperate appeal for information.

Martin Gordon, 32, left his flat in West Port heading for his work at Cabaret Voltaire in Blair Street last Wednesday evening, but he never arrived.

Friends and family say his disappearance is totally out of character, and a webpage on the social networking site Facebook appealing for information already has more than 10,000 members.

Mr Gordon, known as Tartan, was last seen leaving his flat at around 7:40pm last Wednesday.

Flatmate Richard Duff, 29, a bank worker, said: "He just said he was off to work, and I never thought any more about it.

"His shift wasn't due to start till 10pm so he may have decided to go somewhere else first.

"His shift patterns are pretty erratic so I didn't think it odd that he was leaving at that time until the following day when I heard he hadn't arrived at work."

Cabaret Voltaire staff raised the alarm when they called Mr Duff, who used to work for the club, the following day to ask why Mr Gordon had not turned up.

Club owner Sarah David said: "He's a great guy and really well liked by the staff.

"He's got a really dry sense of humour, and this is totally out of character.

"The assistant manager also DJs at the club and he came in a bit earlier to set things up, and we were a bit concerned when Martin hadn't turned up for work by 11 o'clock but we just pressed on.

"He works erratic shifts and he takes sleeping pills for insomnia, which he suffers from quite badly, so we just thought that he'd slept in and it wasn't until we called his flatmate the following day and discovered that he hadn't returned home that we started to worry.

"He's never done anything like this before."

Mr Gordon's brother Chris, 37, an IT consultant who lives in Hampshire, said his brother was usually easy to contact and kept in touch regularly.

He added: "His phone isn't connecting.

"There's no reason that we're aware of for him to just disappear like that.

"I spoke to him on 14 March and he was fine, and we were having a laugh. He had just come back from holiday in Canada and he was on a bit of a high from that. His flatmate says he was fine when he went out, so there's nothing to suggest he was in a spiral of depression or despair.

"I know he wasn't happy in his job and he was looking for a new one, but not to the extent that he would do anything desperate."

Police are currently scouring CCTV of the area for clues to his whereabouts.

A police spokesman said: "He is white, 5ft 10ins tall with a slim build, short black receding hair and a fair complexion.

"He is believed to be wearing a blue hooded top.

"Anyone with information that can help us trace Mr Gordon is asked to contact police immediately.

"Similarly, we would appeal to Mr Gordon to get in touch, either with officers or relatives to confirm he is safe and well."