A Leicestershire firefighter is searching for his missing son in Austria. Lee Marlow reports

Every night this week, Nick Palmer-Miles has returned to his son's empty flat in the pretty Austrian town of Zell Am See. It feels like the wrong thing to do, he says; living in his son CJ's apartment as his boy is missing, maybe alive, possibly dead.

The flat is full of CJ's things. His clothes. His pictures on the wall. His CDs on the shelf. When Nick arrived here, CJ's computer was still on. It's an apartment alive with the remnants of a life CJ left mysteriously behind three weeks ago.

"It's difficult," says Nick. "I've been here many times, staying with CJ. We've drunk beer here together, played cards until the early hours, watched films and talked and talked.

"It seems wrong to be here without him. But I have to be here. I can't bear the thought of him coming home, to this flat, and me not being here... it doesn't bear thinking about."

Christopher James Miles, 28, known by everyone as CJ, has been missing since July 31.

He's lived in the old, picturesque Austrian town of Zell Am See, in Salzburg province, for four years. It's an affluent, crime-free area on the banks of the River Zell. Stories like this don't happen very often in Zell Am See.

CJ built a new life here. Fluent in German, he worked as a courier, a tour guide and ski instructor.

On Saturday, July 31, CJ left his apartment to pick up holiday-makers from Salzburg airport to transport them over the German border to Ruhpolding, about 30 miles away.

It was a trip that CJ had made many times. The family he picked up – there for just a few days sightseeing – were the last ones to see him alive and speak to him.

CJ, it seemed, had simply vanished into thin air. He was due to pick up other passengers later that evening. He didn't turn up.

"His boss told me that CJ was his most dependable member of staff," says Nick. "So they knew when he didn't show for his next job that something might be wrong."

They found his work minibus the following day, parked near the station in Ruhpolding.

The keys were still in the ignition, doors unlocked, lights still on, with both CJ's wallet and coat left on the passenger seat.

He was last seen walking away from the vehicle at about 12.30pm on Saturday, July 31. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

Nick flew out the following Monday; spending day after day trawling bars, speaking to police officers, giving interviews to Austrian TV and newspapers, doing anything and everything to find his son.

He found nothing, and returned to his home in the Vale of Belvoir earlier this month little wiser.

This is Nick's second spell in Austria. The 47-year-old firefighter from Loughborough fire station has still found no trace of his son.

The search continues, but the chances of finding CJ now, admits Nick, are slim.

On this visit, he's had to do things no father should ever have to do – close his son's bank account, remove his possessions from the flat, sort out his finances, closing the book on a life that, somewhere, Nick hopes his boy is still living.

"It's heartbreaking, really, but it needs to be done. I have to face facts – when I come home this Sunday, I will probably be coming home without CJ."

So what's happened here? No-one knows for sure, says Nick. But the clues are all there.

CJ – an easy going, friendly and likeable young man – was diagnosed with a severe type of depression in June. It was a shock for his family and friends, says Nick.

"There was no real clue this was building up," he says. "He rang me in June and he said he wasn't sleeping, he felt stressed, agitated and things were getting too much for him."

He saw a doctor in Austria who diagnosed him with rapid onset bi-polar disorder and prescribed him anti-depressants.

Shortly after, CJ came home to spend a week in the Vale of Belvoir with Nick and his wife, Amanda.

"We spent some quality time together and I think it did him good" said Nick.

CJ returned to Austria in a calmer, healthier state of mind. It didn't last, unfortunately.

On July 27, he saw a psychiatrist. He was given more medication. Rather than make him better, the drugs made him worse.

"It was like a flick of the switch," says Nick. "He sounded anxious; more anxious than I've ever heard him sound before.

"I could hear he was struggling, but I told him to keep in touch, to call us if he needed us," says Nick. "I didn't expect this. ''

So the search continues.

"I have to face facts," says Nick. "My son could have died three weeks ago, I know that.

"But, equally, he could be out of his mind somewhere; afraid, worried, not knowing what to do. There's no evidence which proves he is dead."

And until there is, says Nick, the search goes on.

"As a father I have never known a pain like this. It's there all the time, it's ever present. I don't know what else I can do. But my search will continue until CJ has been found. So I will go on, fearing the worst, but hoping for the best."

For more information, log onto the Facebook page, CJ Is Missing:

http://bit.ly/aIBcKa

Nick would like to thank all the people who have helped try to find CJ. "Your support means so much to me and CJ's family."

Tweet