Emiliano Sala/Romina Sala/InstagramWeeks after a plane carrying Emiliano Sala went missing over the English channel, the footballer’s sister has shared a photograph of his dog waiting patiently for him to return home.
Sala went missing aboard a piper malibu aircraft over the English Channel on January 21 shortly after signing for Cardiff. He is presumed dead.
The 28-year-old’s sister, Romina, has since shared a heart-breaking photograph of Sala’s dog, Nala, a rescue who is eagerly awaiting her human’s return by the front door.
Nala también te espera.. ❤
Posted by Romina Sala on Saturday, 2 February 2019
Sala had a very close relationship with his dog, reports the Mirror, stating pup Nala was one of the reasons the footballer had returned to France.
The photograph depicts the dog staring off into the distance, captioned:
Nala is waiting for you, too.
It is understood the Argentinian athlete had taken Nala to kennels and was in the process of moving her to Wales from France to live with him.
On Thursday January 24, the official search for the missing plane was called off by Guernsey officials, as they believed there was little chance those onboard survived.
Since then, however, more than £290,000 was raised to conduct a private search for the aircraft and the two men onboard.
The plane carrying Sala and pilot David Ibbotson, who is also missing and presumed dead, has since been discovered by a private underwater search team led by renowned shipwreck hunter David Mearns on Sunday morning.
A body was later discovered in the wreckage, but it is yet to be identified.
The privately funded search for the plane carrying Emiliano will be conducted, on behalf of the Sala family, in close coordination with the AAIB search effort. The two vessels will work together to search the designated area as safely, completely and efficiently as possible.
— David Mearns (@davidlmearns) January 30, 2019
Mearns said:
Our job is done. This is an active investigation now in the hands of the AAIB, and they will be taking over as agreed.
We’ve had a long trip back and all I could think about was the families. This is what they wanted us to do, we’ve achieved it and that’s the best we could have hoped for – the best outcome.
An incredibly tragic and sad, and a devastating moment, but at least some of their questions will be answered because of what we will be able to do today.
Sala’s future had looked incredibly bright, having been singed to the Bluebirds in a club record £15million deal. He was returning to South Wales having said his goodbyes to former teammates and staff at Nantes when the plane went down.
Our thoughts are with the families of Emiliano Sala and Dave Ibbotson at this difficult time.
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A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.