British Paralympian hero missing in Las Vegas after leaving all of his belongings inside hostel

The family of a British who went missing while on holiday has issued a desperate plea to help find him nearly two weeks after he was last seen. Sam Ruddock, from Rugby, , had travelled to alone to watch the event, but the 35-year-old has not been heard from since April 16.

Fears for Sam, who has cerebral palsy, have grown and Las Vegas police are now treating him as a missing person. The athlete represented at the and Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, and has a two-year-old son at home and baby on the way.

Sam's friend Lucy Hatton said she drove him to the airport on April 13 and knew the athlete was going to stay at a hostel before the wrestling event he travelled to watch. It is believed Sam did not make it to the WrestleMania event.

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Ruddock revealed Sam was "very active on social media" but had not seen any posts or activity from him online since April 16. She said this made her start to "raise flags" and question whether he was safe.

The family of the much-loved Paralympian are now "hugely concerned" about his wellbeing and have appealed for help to find him. Sam's mum Fran Ruddock, from Lincoln, said he would usually talk to her every day and he was often "very sociable".

Having not heard from Sam, his mum alerted the police in the UK, who raised the case with cops in the and Interpol - who said it had no record of Sam getting on a flight back to the UK. Fran called for anybody in the UK or US with information to step forward and said: "Anything at all to piece together the gaps."

The hostel Sam was staying at said he had not checked out but his belongings were still in his room. Lucy told the that his disappearance was "really, really out of character".

She also added that Sam had not "been in quite the right head space" recently. Despite this, Lucy said Sam was a "fantastic human being" and added that he liked to go into schools and talk to students to help "inspire the next generation".

Ruddock competed in the 2012 Paralympics as a sprinter but later switched to shot put - finishing fifth at the European Championships two years later. In the 2016 Paralympics he finished sixth in the F35 shot put.

The athlete won gold medals at the 1000km cycling time trial in Quentin en Yvelines, France, in 2022. He also won another gold medal in in 2023.

A spokesperson for British Cycling, talking to the BBC, said: "We urge anyone who has been in contact with Sam since 16 April or may have any information of his whereabouts to contact their local police department as soon as possible."