THE parents of a talented musician who went missing from Colchester have issued a fresh appeal for their son to come home.

Anthony Stammers was last seen leaving his family home in Mile End Road at about 10am on May 27 2012.

He was expected to arrive at Colchester Crematorium the following day for his grandfather’s funeral but never turned up and was reported missing.

Despite widespread searches of the city and appeals for information, the then 27-year-old has not been located.

Gazette: Missing man - Anthony Stammers was last seen leaving his home in Colchester in May 2012Missing man - Anthony Stammers was last seen leaving his home in Colchester in May 2012 (Image: Essex Police)

His parents Rob and Julie appeared on live Channel 5 show Vanished: The Search for Britain’s Missing People on Thursday evening.

Julie told the national audience: “Every day we think about Anthony, there’s not a minute that goes by we don’t think about him and what has happened to him.

“And to Anthony if he’s watching: we love you so much and miss you every day.

“We understand it’s difficult when you’ve been away for a long while to reconnect again.

Gazette: Appeal - the parents of Anthony Stammers have made a fresh appeal for information about himAppeal - the parents of Anthony Stammers have made a fresh appeal for information about him (Image: Essex Police)

“But we’re waiting to welcome you back in our lives again, and that’s all we want - to have you back in our lives again and to give you a great big hug.”

Rob added: “We’ve not had any bad news, so while there’s hope we’ll never give up.”

Over the past decade detectives have followed up potential sightings of Anthony in Colchester, Doncaster and London but none yielded any significant lines of inquiry.

The talented musician withdrew £140 in cash from an ATM near his home but no transactions in relation to his account have been made since, and the moment was not captured on CCTV.

Gazette: Talented - Anthony Stammers was a musicianTalented - Anthony Stammers was a musician (Image: Essex Police)

Det Supt Stephen Jennings, of Essex Police, appeared on the show and said: “We did a lot of work around CCTV and, surprisingly, there wasn’t a single image of Anthony - and we trawled hours and hours of footage, both in and around the Colchester area.

“It is really difficult to know what’s actually happened and we do absolutely keep an open mind.”

Anthony is described as white, 5ft 10ins, and is of medium build, with short, dark-brown hair, although he may now have longer hair or changed its colour and could also have a beard.

Any information should be delivered to the police quoting reference 12-001452.