news

Wife of missing MH370 passenger: 'He handed me his wedding ring before boarding.'

Paul Weeks with his children.

 

 

As the frantic search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 continues, Danica Weeks refuses to give up hope that her husband Paul, 39, will be found alive.

Speaking with Nine News Perth, Danica revealed that her husband handed her his wedding ring and his watch just before boarding the flight, to give to their two boys just in case something happened to him.

He was en route to start a dream job in Mongolia, his first fly-in, fly-out job with Transwest Mongolia. He was excited but sad to be leaving his family. As he was saying goodbye, Paul said, “If something should happen to me, then the wedding ring should go to the first son that gets married and then the watch to the second.”

Paul Weeks is a former soldier who was born in New Zealand and moved his young family to Perth after their Christchurch home was ruined by earthquakes. They have a three-year-old son named Lincoln and an 11-month old son named Jack.

In the week before leaving for his new job, Danica says that Paul took lots of photos of his boys. “I can’t give up hope,” she told WA Today. “I would love him to walk through that door, hold him one more time … I see him everywhere in the house.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Paul is one of 227 passengers and 12 crew members missing. The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared on Saturday morning somewhere between Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Six of those passengers were from Australa, 152 from China, 38 from Malaysia, seven from Indonesia and the rest were from India, the US, France, New Zealand, Canada, the Ukraine, Russia, Taiwan and the Netherlands.

As the desperate search continues and conspiracy theories grow more elaborate, Danica sits and hopes that Paul will call or better still, walk through the door.

The six missing Australians are:

Rodney and Mary Burrows are among the 6 Australians missing.

Robert Lawton, 58 and his wife Catherine, 54

Rodney and Mary Burrows, both 50-plus

Gu Naijun and Li Yuan

Paul Weeks is listed as a missing New Zealand passenger, as per his passport.

It’s been six days since the Boeing 777 disappeared with no trace. More than 40 planes and ships from at least 10 nations have been scouring the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam. The plane dropped off the radar less than an hour into the flight without sending a distress signal.

Malaysia Airlines has released a statement saying the search area has been expanded. They are also investigating claims the plane veered off course.

Images courtesy of Nine News and Sky News.

We’re thinking of the families and friends of all the 227 passengers and 12 crew still missing after the disappearance of their Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.