SHE fled the country with their only child last April.

Since then, Australian Ken Thompson has been trying to track them down.

Mr Thompson, 55, the deputy chief of the New South Wales fire department, thinks his wife could be in Singapore with their son, Andrew John Thompson, 4.

He was told by the Australian police that his wife, Ms Melinda Margaret Stratton, 46, had sent letters from Singapore to her family in Australia, he said.

Mr Thompson said he also received a letter and e-mail from her in June 2008, almost two months after she disappeared.

He alerted the police there and they told him that the e-mail had originated from Singapore.

Said Mr Thompson, in a phone interview with The New Paper from Sydney: 'I'm now alone in our house. Andrew's room is ready for him, just the way he left it. From time to time, I go in, sit there and wonder where he is and how he's doing. It's very sad.'

Interpol has issued a missing person alert for Andrew.

A police spokesman here said that Interpol notices are made on the application of member countries, and the information resides with Interpol.

Some of these notices can be found at http://www.interpol.int/public/wanted/default.asp.

Anybody with information can contact the police hotline here at 1800-255-0000.

The boy was last seen on 24 Apr last year, the day Ms Stratton left the country with him onboard a Singapore Airlines flight. It was bound for Frankfurt via Singapore.

The two allegedly disappeared after arriving in Frankfurt and German authorities have found no trace of them.

Mr Thompson now believes that they may have returned to Singapore.

The Family Court of Australia issued a publication order last December, after Australian and German police exhausted their efforts to find them.

The document warns anyone recognising her or her son not to approach them as she may pose a danger to herself and her son. They have been asked instead to contact local police or Interpol.

Mr Thompson also launched an international campaign last December to find his son after successfully getting the family court to lift a ban on identifying Andrew.

He said that e-mails and posters are being distributed throughout Europe, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, Canada, the USA, South America, parts of the former Eastern Bloc, as well as Australia and New Zealand.

A Facebook group has been set up and a video clip has also been uploaded on YouTube, to help look for the missing child.

Mr Thompson has also sought the help of Singapore's Crime Library, a local non-profit organisation, which helps to find those who are missing.

He said he married Ms Stratton in August 2004.

He said that Ms Stratton, who is fluent in English, German and French, held a very demanding job as a product manager with a multi-national company in Australia.

'I was very concerned about her. She was getting only four hours of sleep a night. I encouraged her to take it slower, get some rest and work less,' said Mr Thompson.

'But she didn't want that. She became very tired and irritable.'

In Dec 2007, Mr Thompson claimed she started becoming very hostile towards him. She also became protective of Andrew.

He claimed that a psychiatric assessment ordered by the Family Court reported that Ms Stratton was found to have an underlying mental state that could affect her judgment, particularly in relation to Andrew.

Mr Thompson claimed that on 1 Jan last year, Ms Stratton took Andrew and left their family home.

Refused contact

He claimed that she refused to let him have any contact with their son.

Mr Thompson then decided to go to the Family Court which ordered Ms Stratton to make Andrew available for supervised contact with his father three or four times a week, reported The Australian newspaper.

She complied for about six times in April before fleeing the country later that month, he claimed.

In the letter sent from Singapore in June 2008, Ms Stratton allegedly told Mr Thompson that she wanted full custody of Andrew, and she did not want him to have any involvement in Andrew's life. A day after, he received an e-mail from her, which apparently originated from Singapore, and had the same content as the letter.

Mr Thompson said that both he and his lawyer replied to the e-mail, but claimed they received no further reply from her.

She also sent three letters to her family members in Australia. He said that based on the postmarks, the letters are believed to have been sent from Singapore.

Mr Thompson claimed the family told the police that the letters gave no information about their whereabouts but indicated that Andrew has been enrolled in a pre-school or kindergarten.

Mr Thompson also claimed that Ms Stratton has at least one friend in Singapore, though he does not know the friend.

Earlier this month, The Australian newspaper received a 10-page letter, dated 15 Jan 2009, from someone who claimed to be Ms Stratton.

In the letter, the person said that she was aware of Mr Thompson's campaign to find her.

She added that her son's welfare and future are her priority.

Despite the situation, Mr Thompson said he is not considering divorce.

He added a plea to Ms Stratton: 'I love Andrew, I miss him, and I miss our family. I would like Andrew to be reunited with all his family as quickly as possible.

'I want us to come back together as a family, try to work through our issues, and find a way forward.'