The search for a missing South Wales Argus worker widened yesterday amid reported sightings of the 30-year-old.

Ben Caplan, who works in the Newport-based daily’s circulation department, was last seen at 11pm on Saturday night after a night out with friends in the Gwent village of Caerleon.

Police searches were initially focused on the River Usk after reports that a person was seen going into the river at around the same time.

But the hunt for Ben has now widened after reported sightings of him near Newport railway station on Sunday morning and another near Abergavenny town centre yesterday.

A spokesman for Gwent Police told the Argus: “We’ve got several leads that we are actively following up at the moment.”

Ben’s wife Danielle said the police are stopping the search of the River Usk and focusing on Abergavenny as there have been so many “good” sightings there.
The couple, who live in Bond Street, Newport have a six-month old baby boy, Jude as well as a five-year-old son, Evan.

Argus editor Kevin Ward has joined appeals for help in tracing Ben whom he has described as “one of our own.”

He told the BBC:  “All of Ben’s friends and colleagues at the South Wales Argus are desperately worried about him and we have been doing all we can to help the search for him since he was reported missing.”

Hundreds of people have posted statements on social networking sites appealing to find Ben and his picture has been shared almost 2,000 times on Facebook since Sunday.