Now, 40 years later, Darryl continues to dedicate his time and much of his savings to bringing his big brother home and giving him a proper burial.

“That was my parents’ wish before they died, to be able to find him and bring him home,” he said.

“We then hope it helps aid with the police investigation and bring the people responsible to conviction.”

Each year 35,000 Australians are reported missing — that’s one person every 15 minutes.

While about 95 per cent are located within a week — thousands are considered long-term missing — having not been seen or heard from for more than six months.

The Sunday Telegraph brings you their stories and a special interactive map listing every missing person in Australia.

The map pinpoints each person listed as missing by the Australian Federal Police state by state and overseas from the 1960s onwards.

Terrence Floyd, known as Terry by his family, was only 12 years old when he vanished from a street in Avoca in regional Victoria while he was waiting for a ride home from a football game in 1975.

Because he had been a defiant child and threatened to run away several times before, police initially believed he would soon be found safe.

But when witnesses came forward claiming they saw the boy being taken away in a panel van, the investigation stepped up dramatically.

“Terry had organised a ride and this person was meant to pick up Terry at 4.30, but Terry was running 15 minutes late,” Mr Floyd said.

“Knowing he’d missed his ride and would’ve been in a lot of trouble, he would have willingly got into the van to get a ride home.

“It was opportunistic.”

The investigation was the subject of a coronial inquest in 2001, which found Terrence was likely abducted and murdered, but no one has ever been charged.

However, witness accounts and evidence has led Mr Floyd to believe his body was dumped in a mine shaft at Avoca, prompting him to spend more than $100,000 of his own savings excavating the mine.

But with funds running low, he is calling on the Victorian Government to fund a proper search and help bring his killer to justice.

“I believe they should do this for every missing person,” he said.

“There’s a possible chance of (the killer) being charged and convicted if the body is found, so why the Victorian Government won’t get behind it, it’s dumbfounding.”

MUCH more recently, in a remote part of NSW, Kellie-Anne Levitski vanished from her father’s property in the middle of the night in March 2014 and has not been seen or heard from since.

Her loving brother John initially drove hundreds of kilometres searching for her, showing her picture to locals, hoping for any kind of clue as to what might have happened to his sister.

But almost two years later, it remains a mystery.

“There’s been no trace of her whatsoever,” Mr Levitski said.

“I really have no idea what happened.

“I think about her every day. You hope that she’s still out there and she’s found some good people.”

Ms Levitski, 39, who had a history of mental illness, had moved in with her father near Merimbula after breaking up with her partner and seeking help for substance abuse.

She was there only two weeks before she seemingly got up and left in the middle of the night on March 30, leaving her phone and wallet at home.

Mr Levitski said it was “very unusual” for her to have made no contact with her family and to leave her vital belongings at home.

He said she was “highly intelligent” and had a “heart of gold”.

“She was a wonderful bubbly person. Very well-liked, a wonderful soul.”

“But over the years with mental illness and substance abuse and the people she was mixing with, you wouldn’t have recognised her.

“Despite all the hardships, she was still a good person.”

ANOTHER devastated sibling left searching for answers was Adelaide woman Michelle Iveson, whose brother Andrew Johnson disappeared in the Northern Territory more than 10 years ago.

Mr Johnson had driven to the Northern Territory from Adelaide after quitting his job and going in search of a change of scenery in June 1994.

The 31-year-old called his parents from Darwin to say he had arrived safely from Adelaide and was going to look for a job. They never heard from him again.

There was no trace of him until four months after that phone call when his car was found abandoned in scrubland near Elliot, about 800km from Darwin.

Police found all of his belongings still in the vehicle, except his wallet and passport, but no sign of Mr Johnson.

Mrs Iveson said she and her family had “absolutely no idea” what could have happened to him.

“He said he was going to go to Darwin and find himself a job and go around Australia,” she said.

“He rang my parents from Darwin in the July to say he’d arrived and was going to find a job and let them know where he was. That was the last we heard of him.

“The stress of it all sent my mum and dad to an early grave, they passed away three years after he went missing, 22 days apart.”

Mrs Iveson said her brother had been “a bit of a loner”, but was friendly and “well-liked”.

“He was very involved with the CFS in Aldinga and loved his car, loved his nieces,” she said.

She said his remaining family members and friends just wanted answers.

“I’d like some closure because it’s always in the back of my mind,” she said.

“I’d love to know whether he’s still alive.

“I don’t think people realise what it’s like to have someone go missing until you’re in it. It’s a horrible feeling.”

FOR Townsville father Michael Watter, every day is a struggle to fight back tears at the thought of his beloved twin girls, who have been missing for almost two years.

“There are times when I do feel happy and then have to catch myself and miss that I can’t share that with them,” Mr Watter said.

The eight-year-old sisters, Isabella and Bronte, vanished from their school in April last year and were believed to have been taken by their mother Cassie Watter. At the time Mr Watter had sole custody of the children.

“I was working hard to preserve the relationship hoping she would change her behaviour so the kids would have a mum,” Mr Watter said.

“We went through our normal routine and I dropped them off at school and then went back to pick them up that afternoon, but when I got to the place where they normally wait, they weren't there.

“Twenty months later and they’ve had no school, no friends, no normal interaction with society.

“This is how people have long-term psychological and emotional issues.”

After 20 months of agony for Mr Watter, there have been no confirmed sightings of the girls or their mother.

Mr Watter said while he believed they were all still alive and living off the grid, he feared what would happen if they were found by authorities.

“Once the time comes that she is found, does she then think I’m not letting them go back to their father?

“That’s my biggest fear. I’m constantly on the verge of tears every day.”

Anyone with information about a missing person is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and can remain anonymous.