Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

‘Just send a sign’: Brother makes emotional appeal for missing Forfar man to come home

The anguished brother of a Forfar man who has gone missing in Germany has made an emotional appeal for him to come home.

Stuart Hicks, 37,  urged 32-year-old Gareth to send a sign to let his family know if he is in trouble, pledging they will do everything they can to protect him.

The former Angus Council welfare rights advocate is understood to have been with friends at Blitz Nightclub in Munich on February 22 before he left alone unexpectedly.

Gareth has not been seen or heard since he posted a picture on Facebook captioned “modern slave” in the early hours of the following morning.

He then commented on the post saying: “Get out of jail free”.

The family think the picture might have been taken in a bus station.

Stuart, who lives in Lincoln, described his brother as a kind, caring and gentle soul who is extremely intelligent.

He broke down as he told how Gareth “would give you the shirt off his back, even in a blizzard”.

“As of right now we have no information as to the whereabouts of Gareth,” said Stuart.

“Somebody must have seen him.

“He speaks very little German, even though he is living there.

“I’m also appealing to Gareth to get in touch.”

Speaking directly to his brother, he said: “Your whole family is looking for you, and your friends.

“We’re all really worried.

“If you feel that you are unsafe in any way please just send a sign – we can protect you.

“We’re here, we love you and we just want you home.

“Just send any sign whatsoever.”

The Lucie Blackman Trust is assisting the family. Its chief executive Matthew Searle also urged anyone with information to come forward.

He said: “Munich is a busy, popular city and a huge amount of people would have been out on that Saturday night.

“Were you? Did you go to Blitz that night? Have you seen Gareth since that night?

“Please come forward with any information, no matter how small it seems. It could be the vital intelligence we need to bring Gareth safely home to his family.”

Mr Searle said earlier reports that Gareth may have headed to Amsterdam appear to have been unfounded.

The charity said he could be “anywhere in mainland Europe” and has appealed for divers to help with search efforts in Munich. Mr Searle said the search area may be expanded in future.

The family have also created a donations page on Facebook to raise money for travel expenses to assist with the ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information can contact the Lucie Blackman Trust at ops@lbtrust.org, WhatsApp on 07545 826407 or phone 01983 718802.