Fears grow for missing British Paralympian who vanished in Las Vegas as urgent search launched
27 April 2025, 16:59 | Updated: 27 April 2025, 19:37
Fears are growing for British Paralympian Sam Ruddock who has been reported missing in Las Vegas after he was last heard from over a week ago.
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The 35-year-old, from Warwickshire, who has competed in cycling and shot put, travelled to the US on April 13 and was planning to attend WrestleMania, his friend Lucy Earl said.
Mr Ruddock, who has cerebral palsy, was last heard from on April 16 and has since been reported missing to police in the UK and US.
Mrs Earl, who has been friends with Mr Ruddock for over 10 years, said he stayed with her the night before his flight and she last heard from him on April 16.
Mrs Earl said she contacted police and tracked down the hostel he was staying in, and was told Mr Ruddock had not checked out when he was due to or collected his belongings.
Mrs Earl described him as a "big character with lots of energy".
She said: "Sam is very very present on social media, he's such a passionate person about sports.
"He's such an infectious person.
"He's a phenomenal human being."
Mrs Earl added: "He flew on the 13th, I've got confirmation that he landed, I absolutely know Sam was in Vegas, the concerning part is he went silent from the 16th and because he is such a big presence on social media people were quite fast to notice."
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Mrs Earl said she reported Mr Ruddock missing and has now started a social media campaign to try and get information.
Lincolnshire Police confirmed it has an active missing person investigation for Mr Ruddock.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: "We are supporting the family of a British man reported missing in Las Vegas and are in contact with the local authorities."
Sam Ruddock competed as a sprinter at London 2012 but decided to switch to shot put after the Games, finishing fifth in the shot put F35 at the 2014 European Championships.
He competed for ParalympicsGB at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games where he finished sixth in the F35 shot put.
He finished seventh in the same event at the 2017 World Championships in London.
In 2018 Ruddock turned his attention to cycling and was selected as part of the British team competing at the Para Cycling Track World Championships in 2019.
He became the World Champion of the C1 1000km Time Trial in 2022 and successfully defended his title one year later in Glasgow.
