'Richard, if you read this, please call': New appeal over missing Manics star

A new appeal has been made for information about Manic Street Preachers guitarist Richard “Richey” Edwards who went missing exactly 25 years ago.

Edwards was 27 years old when he was last seen in London.

He disappeared while staying at the Embassy Hotel on 1 February 1995 – the day the Welsh rock band was due to embark on a US tour.

Around two weeks later his car was discovered near the Severn Bridge, sparking fears he had taken his own life.

His body has never been found but he was legally presumed dead in 2008.

The charity Missing People has issued a new appeal about the musician, who struggled with anorexia and depression.

Spokesperson Kate Graham said: “Richard, if you are reading this, please call or text us on our free phone number, 116 000.

“It’s confidential and we can’t trace your call. We just want to provide you with the support you need and help you to be safe. The helpline is here to support people who are missing or thinking of going missing and their loved ones who are left behind.”

The band is best known for the hit singles If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next, Everything Must Go and A Design For Life.

Over the decades, alleged sightings of him have been reported in Goa, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura – sparking theories he may have staged his own disappearance.

A book published last year presented new clues that he may have planned to deliberately vanish.

They included his apparent fascination with disappearance while he was a schoolboy, and a meeting he later had with an unnamed woman at Cardiff’s Whitchurch Hospital who later left for Israel.

Also, in the weeks before his disappearance, he allegedly spoke of wanting to go to Israel, and even got a tattoo on his arm featuring the word Jerusalem.

The book also contained an alleged new sighting by a postman who claimed to have spotted Richey on the footpath of the Severn Bridge on 1 February 1995.

Richey’s father died in 2013 and his mother passed away last year.

His sister Rachel has spent the intervening years since her brother’s disappearance raising awareness of the issues caused by a loved one disappearing.

And she played a key role in the campaign to enact the Guardianship Law, which allows relatives to manage their missing person’s finances.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.