Ruzilan Omar, the husband of the missing headmistress of SK Taman Keramat Satu, Jashiah Rabu, firmly believes that his wife is still alive.

In fact, Ruzilan, 57, said the human footprint found by the search and rescue (SAR) team near the river banks in the search area on Monday also made him believe that there was hope to find his wife and the she was just lost her way in the forest.

"Although they didn't know whether the footprint belonged to Jashiah or some Orang Asli residents, but it matched with the ones found last Thursday.

"All of us in the family have no issues with her before she went missing," he said when met at the SAR operation centre here Tuesday.

He said prior to her disappearance, Jashiah, who is affectionately called Yah, was seen to be constantly lost in thought and was suffering from depression after she was diagnosed with stage 2 cancer.

"Maybe she is hurt by something I said because she has been so sensitive of late, but I love her and I really hope that she will be found soon," he said.

Meanwhile, General Operations Force member Corporal Mustafa Hussin claimed that he and the SAR team had found footprints and several items believed to have been used by Jashiah at the Sungai Selangor riverbank at around noon yesterday.

He said they had also found a tooth brush, a pair of 'telekung' (prayer clothes) and biscuits at the river bank, which is located 800 metres from the operation centre last Friday.

"It was like somebody is running away and will be hiding when we are near.

"Yesterday, I also found another set of footprints, as well as a candle and biscuits from the food pack left by the SAR team in the area," he said.

Jashiah was reported missing since Oct 23 after leaving her house in Taman Seri Seruling on foot, and by hitching a ride for a distance of about 10km to an Orang Asli village.

She was last spotted in a rubber plantation near Bukit Kutu, about 2km from the SAR operation control centre.

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