MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – An Argentinian national has been found “alive and relatively well” according to police, bringing to an end an exhaustive 4-day search. In a statement released by Greater Manchester Police, the man was spotted by a search party on a beach in neighbouring Blackpool, in the early hours of Thursday morning.
The man has been living in Manchester for the past 3 years, where he has been an employee of the local football team, Manchester City. He has been identified by police as Martin Demichelis and has been described as “alive and relatively well”, given some the “difficult circumstances”. Rescuers claim Mr. Demichelis was found rocking from side-to-side, muttering and shaking heavily. “He was raving about this rash he had, or something like that,” according to one onlooker. “And that the rash was coming at him and he couldn’t get away from it. He has totally lost it.”
The 35-year-old was first identified as missing by his colleague Joe Hart at approximately 4:16pm on March 20th. Hart told police he made the realisation “as Marcus Rashford waltzed into the penalty area, completely unmarked”. Despite making his observation clear to the team’s coaches, the City manager didn’t realise the absence himself, until the 55th minute of the game, when a replacement was introduced.
Given Mr. Demichelis’ age, police were immediately put on high alert and were told not to approach the man as he was thought to be “very confused and highly agitated” following a “horrifying episode”.
It is still unknown how the man ended up in Blackpool town or even how he went missing in the first place. Remarkably several of his Manchester City teammates claimed to have seen Demichelis on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, however video evidence remains inconclusive at present.
Shauna Goater a sports psychologist from Manchester, claims Mr. Demichelis’ actions are to be expected from “someone of that age”. “When a footballer is still playing professionally in his mid 30’s, some deterioration of brain cells is to be expected from the general wear and tear that naturally occurs,” she explained. “Therefore it is entirely reasonable to expect this type of forgetful behavior from a man of his age. Honestly, I’m surprised he’s still even able to dress himself.”
Demichelis’ manager Manuel, fears his fellow countryman’s career may be over, following the incident. “I don’t know if he’ll ever recover from the trauma,” Pellegrini said frankly. “He’s very shaken up about the whole thing and I think it might be better for him to retire now with his dignity, and respect from the fans, still intact.”
This is the not the first instance of an Argentinian employee of Man City disappearing without a trace, after a man named Carlos vanished several times in 2011, causing heartbreak for half of the city. This followed a similar stunt by the same man in 2008, that devastated the other half of the city. Police believe the incidents are unrelated, but admit cases involving the disappearance of Argentine nationals in Manchester have reached “epidemic levels”.
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