Wayne personal trainer disappears after warning of danger

In the days before he disappeared, Gerald Christopher was scared.

The Wayne personal trainer told his fiancée that they were in danger, that people were after them, that they had to leave the country. Then, at a friend's barbecue on Memorial Day, he was introduced to a woman who seemed to frighten him. After shaking her hand, he left the party, got into his car, and zoomed away, his fiancée, Roxy Merat, said.

Two days later, on June 1, Christopher disappeared.

Between midnight and 5 a.m., he sneaked out of his apartment without taking his wallet, money, car keys, or phone. It is believed he went to his gym, about two miles away, and took his bicycle. He hasn't been heard from since.

"He was extremely irrational and fearful," said Merat, who lived with the fitness buff, known as "Chris," in the Radnor Crossing Apartments.

The night before he left, "he said I was some kind of angel or holy spirit, and people knew about me and were trying to kill him because I was here to save the world," she added.

At a news conference Tuesday, Radnor police said that they had no evidence of foul play, that Christopher had no medical condition that would explain his absence, and that there had been no activity in his financial accounts. They asked anyone with information on his whereabouts to contact authorities or his family.

"It's a concern right now for his family," said Police Sgt. Andy Block.

Christopher, 45, a muscular, 6-foot-4, 200-pound father of two, has owned Deep Cuts Fit in Wayne for about seven years, Merat said. Though he was inspirational as a trainer, he was a disaster at finances, and ended up losing a house and two cars, and owing $50,000 in taxes and other debts, she said.

But with help from Merat, who is also a trainer, Christopher turned the business around and tripled the couple's income in the past year, Merat said.

"Life was finally smiling for him," she said. "He could sit back and relax. Then he disappears."

Merat wasn't the only one who noticed his odd behavior before he vanished. During training sessions on May 31, clients said, he was unusually quiet.

Friends have papered the area with fliers with his picture and started a Facebook group that has about 360 members. Police said tipsters reported seeing him on his bike in Ridley Township and in the Parkside section of Philadelphia the weekend after he disappeared.

Others said they saw him riding a bike in West Chester and Wilmington, where his best friend lives, Merat said. When she contacted the friend, he told her that "Chris was the type of person who would do this, that he would leave and start a new identity and that he had done this in the past," she said.

That, Merat said, is not the Christopher she knows.

She can only surmise that he panicked about his financial situation and their planned wedding, although no date had been set.

"Maybe he didn't want to give me his burden and wanted to set me free," Merat said.

Friends say they will continue searching for the man they knew as always upbeat, positive, and inspiring.

"He's just a fantastic person," said Katy Keene, a real estate agent enrolled in Christopher's "boot camp" fitness class. "He really cares about his friends, and you're inspired when you talk to him. We're all very sad."