THE ‘ghosted’ wife of a Brit TV chef has saved herself a fortune in divorce costs thanks to online sleuths who tracked down her missing hubby.
Ashley Maguire claimed her partner, Charles Withers, had completely vanished while she was pregnant with their second child in a Facebook post that has since gone viral.
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In a heartbreaking post, the mum-of-two said she was looking for her ex who had ‘decided being a husband and a dad wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted’ and ‘ghosted’.
Having had no contact with the London-born chef for over a year, Ashley was desperate to find him so could finalise their divorce and turned to social media for help.
In the viral post, Ashley wrote: “He’s moved somewhere out of state and changed his phone number.
“Divorcing someone who’s completely unreachable is really tough and drawn out, so I’m trying to track him down to get his signature on a few papers so I can finally close this chapter and move on with my life.
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“…All the girls girls out there, feel free to share. A friend of a friend of a friend has got to know where he is.”
But it took just 24 hours for an army of internet sleuths to track him down in Texas working as a celeb personal chef.
In America, getting what is known as a true default divorce is a lengthy and costly process if a partner vanishes or refuses to respond to court papers.
But a wife or husband must be able to prove they have taken all reasonable steps to make contact – even going as far as to hire a private detective.
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Family solicitor Marc Etherington, from Rayden Solicitors, told the Sun that the Facebook post was an unusual move but one that would have saved her a huge amount in legal fees.
It means that the internet sleuths who helped hunt down the missing TV star have saved Ashley from footing court costs alone and the further distress of long drawn-out divorce proceedings.
Since the story made headlines around the world, heartbroken Ashley revealed that her ex had finally reached out to her and requested that the viral post be taken down.
When asked about the post, lawyer Marc said that while it was a surprising way to reach out to her missing husband it has saved her time, money and distress.
He told The Sun: “It’s something I’ve never instructed my clients to do…I anticipate it was probably not advised but I suspect it was her natural instinct to see if social media could help her find her husband.
“Ten or 15 years ago, what was reasonable to locate someone might have been different because we now have social media and it’s such a big part of everyone’s lives.
“She probably did it off her own initiative and sounds like it worked.
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“It would have saved money because if she went through formal channels it would have incurred costs on her.
“She’s probably tried to find a tool that would work best for her in the most cost-effective way possible and now it sounds like there has been contact.
“It means that hopefully, they will now be able to communicate sensibly and resolve this because there are two children involved.”
In a similar way to the UK, a person must be able to show they have taken all reasonable steps to contact a missing partner.
This could be a phone, letter, email or employing a private investigator to help track them down – making the divorce more expensive than a traditional separation.
Disappearing can sometimes be used as a cowardly delay tactic when it comes to finances but it doesn’t mean they’ll get away with not paying up, he added.
Marc said: “Inevitably someone can still push through with a divorce even if you disappear.
“If someone doesn’t want to engage in finance discussion and again just disappears, the family court can still make financial orders in the absence of the other party.
“Strategically, if someone is trying to prevent a divorce from taking place or the finances being dealt with by putting yourself in a situation where you can’t be contacted it’s just not going to work.
“If you make things difficult for your wife or husband in terms of getting to their end goal and resolving matters it can be used as a delay tactic to cause distress.”
But he explains that any party that is seen as acting unreasonably in the UK, for example making attempts to avoid being served court paper, would still get a court order against them.
Divorce proceedings can differ between states in the US but a default separation can be the only way to end your marriage if your spouse cannot be found.
HUNT FOR HUBBY
TikTok sleuths were quick to jump on the post where Ashley claimed her TV star hubby had abandoned their relationship and two kids a year ago.
In that time the American mum says she has become used to being a single parent and even drove to the hospital alone to give birth to their second child.
The chef, who has yet to comment on the allegations against him, has reportedly never met any of his children.
The single mother has been wanting to serve her partner divorce papers but wasn’t able to do so as she couldn’t physically find him.
But less than 24 hours after posting a bizarre plea online, TikTokers were on to the case and managed to track down the MIA chef.
The part-time detectives claimed the London-born cook had relocated from the family’s home in Massachusetts to Texas.
Some of them even alleged they had matched with Charles – who now allegedly goes by “Charlie” – on dating apps such as Bumble.
The chef, who starred in the reality TV show “Chopped” in 2022, is believed to be working as a personal chef for Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, DailyMail.com reports.
Sheridan’s wife Nicole, 41, shared a clip of the missing cook and later deleted it.
But she wasn’t quick enough as a TikTok user copied it and reposted it online.
A spokesperson for Taylor Sheridan, 54, would neither confirm nor deny to DailyMail.com that Withers was working for him.
The Sun has also approached Mr Sheridan’s team for comment.
Now that she’s found him, McGuire told TMZ she’s ready to go ahead with her divorce as her husband is now willing to sit down and talk.
In her first interview after the shock post, Ashley told radio presenter Ashlee Feldman on the JAM’N Morning Show on Monday, that Charles had now texted her on an old number she had saved for him.
McGuire told the radio show that she now “just wants to move on” and explained why she removed the now-viral Facebook plea.
She said: “I don’t want any ties, I don’t want any connections, I just want the next chapter of my life to start.
“At the end of the day, he dipped. He took off.”
“I truly mean what I said, I don’t have any ill will towards him,” she added.
“I did not intentionally make him the most hated man out there by any means.
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“I hope he’s good. For somebody to turn their life this upside down, there’s obviously some internal struggles there, there’s a lot going on.
“But at the same time to just walk away from all responsibility, just walk away like it never happened is just – you can’t do that.”
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Source: Sun
