A mother-of-two has accused her husband of 'ghosting' her and their two children in a shocking social media post - claiming that he fled to a different state to start a new life while she was pregnant with their second baby, as she launched a desperate plea to internet sleuths to help her track him down.
Ashley McGuire, from Massachusetts, took to Facebook's popular Are We Dating The Same Guy? group to make several incredible accusations about former reality star chef Charles Withers.
The scorned spouse claimed that she was pregnant when Charles allegedly went missing, adding: 'He has one baby he hasn't seen in over a year and one he's never met.'
Mom-of-two Ashley wrote that he was 'gone without a trace' and that she now wanted to harness the 'power' of social media to track him down and finalize a divorce.
Ashley McGuire, from Massachusetts, took to Facebook's popular Are We Dating The Same Guy? group to make several shocking claims about famous chef Charles Withers
Mom-of-two Ashley claimed that he was 'gone without a trace' and said that she now wants to harness the 'power' of social media to track him and finalize a divorce
The sordid saga was sparked when Ashley shared a post in the group on Saturday.
It read: 'I am really about to test the power of Facebook with this one...
'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.
'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, 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.'
She continued: 'Divorcing someone who's completely unreachable is really tough and drawn out, so I'm trying to track him down, 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.
'I've heard he is going by 'Charlie' now. He's British and charming as f**k. He's a chef and probably never mentioned having a wife of kids back in Massachusetts.
'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.
Charles, who had previously appeared on an episode of Food Network's Chopped in 2022, had been a rising star in the culinary world
In a TikTok clip shared in the aftermath of the furor by Mary Katherine Samples, which has since been watched more than 3.8 million times, the internet sleuth was just one of many to unpack the situation
Ashley's post concluded: 'A friend of a friend has got to know where he is.'
Charles, who had previously appeared on an episode of Food Network's Chopped in 2022, had been a rising star in the culinary world.
He had been at the helm of Falmouth's C Salt Wine Bar and Grille.
And Ashley's post sent the internet into a frenzy - as dozens of women rallied round.
In a TikTok clip shared in the aftermath of the furor by Mary Katherine Samples, which has since been watched more than 3.8 million times, the internet sleuth was just one of many to unpack the situation.
'Ashley McGuire made a Facebook post asking the world to help find her missing husband Charlie Withers who she believes just abandoned his family - two children.
'It's been a year since he left town. He hasn't contacted the family. What the heck Charlie? Where are you?
'Last thing we know he had opened a restaurant in Massachusetts where he was the chef, sold a crap ton of gift cards and then just took the money and closed up shop leaving all the customers and employees out in the dark with unpaid wages and unusable gift cards.'
The current status of Charles' restaurant is officially unconfirmed but the eatery is listed as 'permanently closed' on Google and it has come under heavy fire on TripAdvisor
One reviewer named Diane, wrote: 'My daughter gave us a gift card and we booked our table for August 2. The reservation was confirmed by Open Table'
The content creator, who has more than 132,000 followers, continued: 'A lot of people are like what in the heck is this foul play and why isn't she worried about his safety.
'I don't know the answer to that. It just appears that she kind of knows he's abandoned the family.
'I really hope that he is found safely and quickly but good lord this is a wild ride.'
Mary's claims about Charles' restaurant are yet to be confirmed but the eatery is listed as 'permanently closed' on Google.
The TripAdvisor page has also been hit with accusations of a similar nature.
One reviewer, named Bill, said he was 'disgusted' with Charles and slammed him as being a 'classless owner.'
Discussing his gift card, the disgruntled customer wrote: 'I went to use it this November 2023 only to find out the restaurant has closed and stealing my gift card dollars! That should be illegal, stealing customers' unused dollars.'
He said 'Charles Withers does not deserve any patronage for his deceit.'
Another, named Diane, wrote: 'My daughter gave us a gift card and we booked our table for August 2. The reservation was confirmed by Open Table.
'We were really looking forward to the dinner but we arrived there and it was closed. I don't know why we weren't notified. I had provided my contact information. Since we were on vacation to Falmouth, there will be no opportunity to visit this restaurant again.
'My daughter gave me a generous gift card for my birthday. It was very unfortunate and costly for her and for us.'
'Single moms are a special breed, and I know a lot of you have gone through the same situation I have,' she shared
But Ashley has since taken to the social media platform once again to share an update.
'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.
'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.'
But she was keen to stress that she did 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,' she said. 'Truly I only want to see this situation resolved so me and my children can restart our lives and fix the damage done.'
DailyMail.com has reached out to Ashley and Charles for comment.