Police have released CCTV images of a multi-millionaire’s son who vanished more than a week ago during raging floods in an upmarket village set along the Thames.
Alexander Stern, 36, disappeared after leaving The Bull Inn, located near the flood-swollen river in Sonning, Berkshire, at around 7.30pm on Saturday, January 11.
The pub is a stone’s throw from the £12 million converted mill house where George and Amal Clooney have lived since 2014, as well as near to where former Prime Minister Theresa May also owns a country home.
CCTV shows Mr Stern ordering at the bar before leaving a short while later wheeling a suitcase and walking towards Sonning Bridge, on the B478.
Family and friends say they have had no contact from him since.
Missing person: Alexander Stern, 36, disappeared after leaving The Bull Inn, located near the flood-swollen river in Sonning, Berkshire, at around 7.30pm on Saturday, January 11
Ordering at the bar: CCTV shows Mr Stern ordering at the bar and then leaving a short while later wheeling a suitcase and walking towards Sonning Bridge, on the B478
The property company boss, from Kensington, in London, is the son of Ronald Stern, from Hampstead, London, who runs a multi-million pound stationery empire.
Ronald Stern is famed as one of Britain’s top Ferrari collectors, having previously sold one of the Italian supercars for £21 million.
The investigating officer, Detective Inspector Ben Henley, said ‘We now have some further images to help in the search for Alexander.
‘The police and his family and friends are very concerned for his welfare.
‘If you saw Alexander on Saturday January 11, or think you may have seen him, please contact Thames Valley Police.
‘We hope these images may remind you of what Alexander was wearing and carrying that day and hope this could help trace him.’
Police have also released a picture of a small suitcase similar to the one Mr Stern was wheeling.
Police have released CCTV images of a multi-millionaire’s son who vanished more than a week ago during raging floods in an upmarket village set along the Thames. Mr Stern disappeared after leaving The Bull Inn, located near the flood-swollen river in Sonning, Berkshire last week
DI Henley added ‘If anyone in the area could check any CCTV or dash-cam footage they have and let us know of anything you find which could be related to Alexander, please share this with us.
‘If you have information about his whereabouts contact the non-emergency number 101 or make a report online, quoting the reference 43200016370.’
The Environment Agency says the Thames and its tributaries are swollen following weeks of relentless rain, and although the weather is currently dry, levels are still dangerously high.
Many footpaths alongside the Thames and other rivers are under water and people could be swept into the raging watercourses.
The Missing People Facebook page said he had last been seen in Kensington on Friday, January 9.
Popular upmarket country pub visited by stars: The pub is a stone’s throw from the £12 million converted mill house where George and Amal Clooney have lived since 2014, as well as near to where former Prime Minister Theresa May also owns a country home
The post said ‘Alexander we are here for you whenever you are ready; we can listen, talk you through what help you need, pass a message for you and help you to be safe. Call. Text. Anytime. Free. Confidential. 116000.’
The police hunt has intensified – the Berkshire Lowland Search and Rescue team has set up a mobile base in the grounds of The Mill at Sonning.
Some areas have been sealed off by police to prevent members of the public from accessing the land.
Some villagers fear he is the latest victim of a ‘curse’ with four other people having died on the same stretch of river in the last six months.
On January 12, a body was recovered from the Thames at Fawley Court, upriver from Sonning, after people reported seeing a man ‘enter the water’.
Bogdan Skarbeck, 49, from Poland, who lived and worked in Reading, was also found dead in the Thames, near Henley, in December.
Last week heading towards this bridge?: CCTV shows Mr Stern ordering at the bar and then leaving a short while later wheeling a suitcase and walking towards Sonning Bridge, on the B478. Family and friends say they have had no contact from him since
In August, a 24-year-old man was also found in the river at Henley, and a woman was found dead just downstream at Marlow in November.
Thames Valley Police are not linking the deaths but one Sonning villager said ‘Some folk are saying the stretch of river might suddenly have had a curse put on it.
‘We do get people drowning in the river but to have four in six months is very unusual, and now Mr Stern has gone missing too.’
The villager, who asked not to be named, said ‘George Clooney and his wife have settled in and everyone likes them – they have been very good in helping out with activities and various good causes in the village.
‘It must be terrible for them to hear about these deaths, especially with the river running past the bottom of their garden.’
Many of the riverside paths are under water because of the recent storms and anyone losing their footing could get swept away in the floods.
George Clooney and lawyer wife Amal bought the riverside mill house in 2014 and celebrated the birth of twins, Ella and Alexander, in 2017.