Charlie Withers, the estranged husband the internet hunted down
Charlie Withers left his wife a year ago. The internet tracked him down in just hours. Photo: Facebook
Last year, a man named Charlie Withers up and left his pregnant wife and his children, vanishing without a trace.
Just this week, a plea to strangers on social media led to him being tracked down in a matter of hours.
It came after Withers’ abandoned wife, Ashley McGuire, from Massachusetts, decided to test the power of the internet. Hoping to finally divorce her estranged husband, she plastered images of him on Facebook, encouraging people to share her post in the hope of finding him.
“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,” McGuire said.
In the post she explained Withers suddenly left her while she was pregnant with their youngest child, seemingly after deciding being a father and husband “wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted anymore”.
She said he vanished “without a trace”, he never met his youngest child, changed his phone number and moved out of state. She also said he has a British accent and while his first name is Charles, she believed he was going by Charlie and given he was a chef, he was likely working in hospitality.
“He’s probably never mentioned having a wife or kids back in Massachusetts,” McGuire said.
“If you know him, if you’re working with him, if you’re dating him or friends with him, can you please have him get in touch with me or let me know where I can find him.”
Tweet from @OKAYYYWOWWW
Internet tracks down Charlie Withers
It didn’t take long for the internet to do what it does best and track down Withers. It wasn’t just people on Facebook who were searching for him, but also other platforms like TikTok.
It turns out plenty of people were willing to offer McGuire support and tips on where her soon-to-be-ex-husband was. She knew he was alive, as she had received information about him in the past.
In an update, McGuire said she had “more than enough information” to locate him and she had received hundreds of messages.
According to the New York Post, multiple women from Texas who saw McGuire’s post came forward and said they had matched with Withers on a dating app.
Despite what Withers had put her through since walking out on his family, McGuire did ask for people not to be nasty to him.
“Please know I truly do not wish him any type of ill will,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I sincerely appreciate all of your support, but please do not make threats, spread hate, or try to go out and locate him. Truly I only want to see this situation resolved so me and my children can restart our lives and fix the damage done.”
@marykatherinesamples I wouldnt call this a happy ending, but at least shes getting some answers #charliewithers
Power of the internet
McGuire probably didn’t imagine her husband would take off like he did, but at least through people online, she will be able to get him to sign divorce papers, so she can move on with her life.
There’s a lot of bad corners of the internet, but sometimes it can bring about a lot of good, especially when it comes to reuniting people.
Earlier this year, two identical twins who were illegally adopted at birth were reunited, thanks to a TikTok video. Neither Amy and Ano knew they were a twin, until a little while after Ano was sent a clip of her sister getting a piercing.
@metrouk This is the heartwarming moment two twins separated at birth were reunited with their biological mother Amy and Ano were both stolen from a hospital in the Eastern European country of Georgia just days after their birth in 2002 after their mum, Aza, fell into a coma. The identical twins were then sold to new families, remaining separated for more than 22 years before miraculously recognising one another in social media videos. #fyp #reunion #separation #separated #separatedatbirth #longlostfamily #longlostsiblings #longlosttwin #emotional #childbirth #lost #family #twins #georgia #georgiatwins #fyp #tok #news
The two were essentially stolen and adopted out at birth, after their mother, who they have since also reunited with, fell into a coma. The mother was told her babies had died.
Even on Facebook, which can sometimes be a cesspit, there are groups dedicated to helping girls figure out whether the person they matched with on a dating app or met on a night out is someone’s boyfriend.
