Richard Morris: Police searching for missing diplomat want to talk to runners
Richard Morris was last seen on 6 May after he went for a jog in his home village of Bentley in Hampshire.
Tuesday 19 May 2020 19:48, UK
Police are appealing for information from joggers after a diplomat went missing during his run.
Richard Morris, 52, has not been seen since the morning of Wednesday 6 May in his home village of Bentley, near Farnham in Hampshire.
The father of three was a regular participant in the weekly Alice Holt run on Saturdays, a 5km route around the forest along tracks, trails and cycle paths.
Fellow runners were previously asked to check his profile on the running app Strava in the hunt for clues to his movements when he disappeared.
Hampshire police have asked for drivers to provide dashcam footage from the day he disappeared and are now asking for runners to come forward so they can be excluded from the investigation.
A force spokesman said: "Officers searching for missing Richard Morris are asking for adult male runners, who were running on May 6, to come forward.
"We have had a number of sightings of runners on that day and we need to narrow these down to ones that were Richard.
"We are asking that any man who was running in Bentley and the surrounding areas, between 10am and 4pm on 6 May, to make contact so we can start to narrow down the sightings.
"Officers will take a description of you, your clothing and details of your running route.
"It is believed that Richard, from Bentley, was running in the local area on May 6, and officers have been carrying out searches since then in locations he is known to go."
Mr Morris is described as being white, around 6ft tall, with greying hair and a beard. He is also described as having a port birth mark on his face.
He was last seen wearing a blue long-sleeved top with a half zip, black shorts, and blue trainers.
Mr Morris was the ambassador to Nepal between 2015 and November 2019, and accompanied the Duke of Sussex during his tour of the country in 2016.
Prior to that, he was head of the Pacific department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office - and has held senior diplomatic posts including in Australia and Mexico.