Alex Buscemi
After British chef Charles Withers pulled a Houdini on his wife and kids, his wife, Ashley McGuire, spilled the tea online. Soon enough, the internet tracked him down on the popular dating app Bumble.
The hunt for Charles was on after the TV chef’s wife posted a notice online
“This is my husband, Charles Withers. He loves to be the center of attention but I’m not sure how much he’s going to like this,” Ashley wrote. “Last year, when I was pregnant with our youngest baby he decided being a husband and a dad wasn’t the lifestyle he wanted anymore and he ghosted [us], like gone without a trace. He has one baby he hasn’t seen in over a year, and one he’s never met. He’s moved somewhere out of state and changed his phone number.”
Last year, while Ashley was expecting their youngest, Charles had an epiphany that family life wasn’t his jam, and poof, he ghosted them. One kid’s never even seen his face.
Ashley, armed with the might of social media, decided to launch a manhunt for Charles. She didn’t want to get back together with him. All she needed was his scribble on the divorce papers so she could make a clean break and move on.
“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,” she wrote. “I’ve heard he’s going by ‘Charlie’ now. He’s British and charming AF. He’s a chef and probably working in the hospitality industry somewhere. He’s probably never mentioned having a wife or kids back in Massachusetts.”
Charlie — er, Charles — is a rising star in the culinary scene and appeared on a 2022 episode of Chopped.
“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. All the girls out there, feel free to share. A friend of a friend of a friend has got to know where he is,” Ashley wrote.
The internet finds Charles on Bumble
With the help of TikTok detectives and some eagle-eyed Bumble users in Dallas, Texas, Ashley’s plea for intel on Charles’ whereabouts caught fire.
Enter TikToker @nerdypinkpanda, who amped up the search with a viral campaign, even unearthing an old clip of Charles on Chopped. Turns out, Charles wasn’t just ghosting family; he wasn’t paying child support either.
@nerdypinkpanda #Missing #Boston #Chef abandoned his family and now we are going to try and find him for his wife! So she can finally get a divorce and move on….#breakingnews #news #foryou
The internet turned into a swarm of detectives. Ashley was flooded with leads — more than enough to track Charles down — proving that when it comes to internet sleuthing, many hands make light work.
Ashley thanks the internet detectives for a job well done
Ashley posted an update that read like a sigh of relief. She was overwhelmed with the support and info, showing some major love to the single mom brigade out there.
“UPDATE: Guys….. This is absolutely insane. I figured maybe someone in my area was still in touch with him but I absolutely did not expect this,” she wrote. “I’ve gotten MORE than enough information to locate him. I have literally hundreds of messages to sort through, some with information and some with support and I appreciate all of them. Single moms are a special breed, and I know a lot of you have gone through the same situation I have.”
She also asked folks to keep the pitchforks down.
“Please know I truly do not wish him any type of ill will. 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. At the end of the day I get to come home to my babies and be their mom, so I think I win regardless,” she concluded.
The internet was more than pleased that the story had a happy ending — and threw out some theories on why he split so suddenly
And there you have it, folks. The story of how the internet helped a single mom track down her elusive ex.
You really can find anything online.