On Sunday morning, 80-year-old Geoffrey Morgan was getting ready to have breakfast with his wife and daughter when he slipped out of the front door of his Għajnsielem flat... and disappeared.

“It was only after 10 minutes or so that we realised Geoffrey wasn’t there and we immediately went out to look for him,” his son-in-law Stephen Jean-Paul told The Times.

Mr Morgan, who suffers from dementia, was reported to the police as missing on Sunday after his family failed to locate him. Two public appeals for information about his whereabouts have already been made by the police.

“I can’t understand how we can’t find him on such a tiny island,” Mr Jean-Paul said.

Mr Morgan, who is British, was wearing a dark red striped shirt, khaki coloured shorts and black shoes. He is of medium build, has short grey hair and is about six feet tall.

The two couples are renting separate apartments. “It was about 11.30 a.m. and their apartment is just opposite ours so we both kept the front doors open to just walk in and out. He slipped out and time passed before we realised what had happened, as everyone thought he was in the other flat,” Mr Jean-Paul said.

Mr Jean-Paul, who is French, ran out to look for him together with his wife and mother-in-law but eventually had to turn to the police for help.

The family are meant to be on holiday in Gozo until June 15. It is not Mr Morgan’s first visit. His mother is Maltese and he has been a regular visitor to the islands for the past 40 years or so.

People have called the police with information and while Mr Jean-Paul said there were several sightings of him, reports have turned out to be false.

“But nothing is being discounted,” he said.

The family and police do have one lead – Mr Morgan was spotted by a butcher less than an hour after he left the flat on Sunday, walking in front of a restaurant in Mġarr Road in Xewkija.

“Coincidentally, Carol had introduced him to her father on Friday so he recognised him,” he said.

Mr Morgan also appears on footage from security cameras outside a restaurant in the road.

Mr Jean-Paul said this was the first time Mr Morgan had disappeared as in the UK he was always under the watchful eye of his wife or daughter.

“Familiar surroundings are very important to people who suffer from dementia – this environment is out of place for him,” Mr Jean-Paul said.

As a safety precaution, the family always put cards with contact details and money in Mr Morgan’s pockets. “But he wasn’t carrying anything... he was supposed to have breakfast and not walk out,” he said.

Mr Morgan knows his name and can hold a conversation with strangers. “He is very friendly and will tell you who he is but not where he is or that he is lost. We wonder where he slept and if he is eating and what he did and if he is ok,” said his son-in-law. The desperately worried family are appealing for information and have handed out fliers asking people to be on the lookout for Mr Morgan. Anyone who has any information is urged to call the police in confidence on 119 or call at the nearest police station.