Missing Maroubra surfer Karl Melo-Richards had ‘high levels’ of heavy metals and uranium in his blood

THE mother of missing Maroubra surfer Karl Melo-Richards is urging him to seek immediate medical attention after tests revealed high levels of heavy metals and traces of uranium in his blood.

Karl Melo-Richards, aged 25, was last seen about 1.45pm on Friday 2 September 2016, at his family home on Broome St, Maroubra by his mum Vanessa.

THE mother of missing Maroubra surfer Karl Melo-Richards is urging him to seek immediate medical attention after tests revealed high levels of heavy metals and traces of uranium in his blood.

Mr Melo-Richards, 25, was last seen by his mum Vanessa at 1.45pm on Friday, September 2 at the family home in Broome St when she left to go to work.

Earlier that day, the keen surfer had spoken to a long-term girlfriend and they had decided to “step back from each other” so they could both move on with their lives, Mrs Richards said.

Karl Melo-Richards, 25, was a keen surfer who surfed every day at Maroubra. He has been missing since Friday, September 2.

“He was having so many depressive episodes,” she said. “In the last year he had been very, very sick. He was almost getting better and then would crash again.

“We were looking at all kinds of possibilities.”

Mrs Richards said a few days ago the results of hair follicle tests revealed “off the chart” levels of heavy metal toxins including lead and traces of uranium in his blood stream which would explain his depression, anxiety and insomnia.

“It seems that my family does not have the ability to eliminate these things,” she said.

“The results were so bad, there were so many of them and they are so high.

“All these metals cause anxiety, depression, insomnia and confusion and pretty much exactly what he has.

“If he treats this it would change his health and life.”

Mrs Richards, who also has two younger children, said her son’s insomnia had “come back to haunt him constantly” this year and he had not slept for four days prior to his disappearance.

Posters were put up around Bondi about missing Maroubra man Karl Melo-Richards

She said he needed to urgently go to a doctor to give blood and would be given medication to draw the metals ‒ which may have formed deposits on his brain ‒ out of his blood stream and detox his body.

“He was training to be a plumber for three years and was almost qualified,” Mrs Richards said.

“During that time, he would be working with copper piping, welding and soldering ‒ all kinds of activity where he could ingest heavy metals from.

“I think it’s through work but I don’t know how on earth anyone could be exposed to uranium.

“It’s very, very odd that it was there.”

Mrs Richards said her son was very sporty, surfing every day at Maroubra and she wondered whether run-off from the old landfill site at Malabar Headlands contained toxic metals that may have got into the water at the south end.

Concerns have been raised by South Maroubra SLSC that work undertaken to collect run-off from the Anzac rifle range may not entirely capture all of it after heavy rain and believe it may contain heavy metal pollutants, although tests have so far failed to confirm this.

Karl Melo-Richards hasn’t been seen by his family since September 2.

The day Mr Melo-Richards went missing, his sister arrived back from school at 4.50pm to find the front and back doors open.

Her older brother’s keys, wallet and car were still there but his mobile phone had gone and since then it has been switched off and his family has heard nothing from him.

Mrs Richards said she hoped to speak with a woman who worked at Tweed Heads and lived at Byron Bay who met her son earlier this year and may know his whereabouts.

Missing posters have been erected around the eastern suburbs asking anyone with information to contact police.

Mr Melo-Richards is described as being of caucasian appearance, 175-180cm tall, broad-shouldered with a fit build, close-cropped brown hair and brown eyes.

When he was last seen he was wearing a T-shirt or long sleeved, dark lightweight jersey, dark blue jeans and closed-in shoes, and carrying an “SDS” brand blue and grey backpack.

Anyone who saw Mr Melo-Richards between 2pm and 5pm on September 2, particularly in the South Maroubra area, near Broome St or the surf club, is urged to call Maroubra Police on 93499299.