‘Hour by hour’: Loved ones left with never-ending trauma as NSW missing persons cases remain unsolved
When a person goes missing, what happens to those left behind? We revisit a handful of unresolved northern NSW cases, consider the impact on families – and what can be done better.
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Warning: This story contains images of Aboriginal persons who are missing and may be deceased.
When a loved one goes missing what happens to those left behind?
Sarah Wayland, an University of New England Associate professor and counsellor to families of missing persons, has been working in the field for 20 years with families and police.
Families struggle with a unique form of grief known as “imagined trauma” where loved ones ask themselves endless questions, she said.
“How long will I have to wait for news? “Will I have to wait the rest of my life?” “What if I passed away and I’d never find out what has happened to my adult child?” Ms Wayland said.
The people left behind experience “both hopefulness and hopelessness and live in that space”.
“All day long, hour by hour they’re thinking maybe today’s the day and then at the end of the day: today’s not the day.”
Shadow Regional Health Minister and state Coffs Harbour MP Gurmesh Singh said he wanted missing persons considered from a health perspective.
“We need to ensure that governments are funding mental health services – especially for young people – to reduce the risk of them being added to the growing list of missing persons,” he said.
Mr Singh said the Federal government should reinstate the 20 Medicare-funded mental health sessions that have been halfed.
The NSW budget for mental health services in 2024-25 is $2.9 billion.
Ms Wayland said she also wanted missing persons considered from a health perspective to understand what people are feeling when they go missing.
“From the pandemic through to the cost of living crisis, there are a lot of people experiencing distress, and that can trigger decisions to go missing or to disconnect from their lives,” she said.
The National Missing Persons Coordination Centre states were 56,000 missing persons reports made to police in 2023.
Research by the Australian Institute of Criminology reveals the majority of missing persons choose to disappear.
Youths aged 13-17 years are most likely to go missing – with half of all people reported missing in NSW between 2008 and 2015 in that age group.
Statistics show more than 60 per cent of those missing return or are found within 48 hours and 98 per cent are ultimately found alive.
Less than three per cent of missing persons cases in New South Wales are unresolved according to a Institute of Criminology report.
NSW Police confirmed 78 outstanding missing people across NSW currently, while 5398 people were reported missing this year so far.
In northern NSW, 1175 people have been reported missing this year – and 15 people are yet to be found.
Last year, 11,002 people were reported missing across the state, and 10 people are yet to be found.
The NSW Police Missing Persons Unit acknowledges people may choose to go missing for a variety of reasons.
“It is not a crime to go missing and police will respect your privacy if you don’t wish to disclose your location to your family,” a NSW Police Missing Persons Unit spokeswoman said.
Detective Inspector Ritchie Sim, manager of the Missing Person Registry, said finding missing people – particularly those with a mental health condition or dementia – was a priority for state police.
“Every day police receive reports that a person living with dementia, or some other form of memory loss, has gone missing and every single one of those missing people become of a priority for us to find.” he said.
A police spokesman said: “Every missing person deserves to be found and the NSW Police Force dedicates significant resources and effort to locate individuals who are reported missing.”
“Police diligently pursue all lines of inquiry and explore every available lead in their quest to reunite families and bring closure to communities,” he said.
Below are some unresolved northern NSW missing persons cases.
Bronwyn Winfield
Ms Winfield has been missing from Lennox Head since 1993, aged 31. Her disappearance is the subject of a true crime podcast by The Australian’s Hedley Thomas, ‘Bronwyn’.
Patrick Liedke
Mr Liedke, 39, was last seen west of Tweed Heads on April 22, 2024. His devastated family have since come forward and have issued several public appeals saying more needs to be done to support families of missing people, from a mental health and police perspective.
Leslie Keating
Mr Keating, 63, has been missing from Ramornie since October 20, 2023.
Gage Wilson
Mullumbimby man Gage Wilson, 31, has not been since May 18, 2024. His abandoned car was found smashed into a tree on Koonyum Range Rd, Wilsons Creek. His family has spoken out on the pain they go through each day wondering if Gage will be found.
Elizabeth Forman
Police have issued a fresh appeal to find Ms Forman, who has been missing for four years as part of National Missing Persons Week.
The 75-year-old was last seen taking a walk at a property on Friday Hut Rd in Brooklet, about 20km north of Ballina on Thursday, October 1, 2020.
At the time of her disappearance, police held serious concerns for her welfare given her dementia.
Anne Marie Jeffery
Police are re-appealing for information as the search continues to locate Coffs Harbour grandmother Anne Marie Jeffery who was last seen in the state’s north four years ago.
In August 2020, the 73-year-old grandmother was camping at the Lake Arragan campground, north of Brooms Head, about 75km east of Grafton, with her husband and friends.
She was last seen walking between the campground and a public toilet about 9am on Tuesday 25 August 2020.
Officers from Coffs Clarence Police District – along with the SES, RFS, National Parks and Wildlife (NPWS), and local volunteers – searched the area for three days but found no sign of her.
Colleen Walker-Craig
Miss Craig, aged 16-years-old has been missing from Bowraville since September 13, 1990. The NSW Coroner found she had died and most likely had been murdered.
Rose Rain Howell
Ms Howell went missing from Bellingen on April 11, 2003. She was seen at 5.30pm hitchhiking on the old Pacific Highway turn-off to Perry Hill and Repton.
Margaret Ryan
Margaret Ryan, 38, was last seen by a friend in Mullumbimby on July 3, 1986. She has not been heard of or seen since.
Police urge anyone with relevant information that may be urgent to phone triple-0. Non-urgent reports can be made to Policelink on 131 444.
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