THE lingering despair over not knowing the fate of a family member or friend who has gone missing is generally regarded as more painful than death.
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As is the case each year, the Queensland Police Service supports the work of the Australian Federal Police National Missing Persons Co-ordination Centre and their work with National Missing Persons Week, which will this year run until Saturday.
The most recent missing person reported in Mount Isa is Kyle Coleman. Kyle, 17, was last seen on the morning of February 22 in Mount Isa and remains a missing person. He was reported to have gone on a camping trip.
But the Coleman family recently offered up the newest piece of information from the investigation through a post on the Please Help Find Kyle Coleman Facebook page.
The message said investigations made it clear Kyle never left Undilla Station with James on Friday, February 21, and they believed it was not Kyle’s choice to remain there.
Police have started compiling a brief of evidence found in the search for Kyle for the Queensland coroner.
Mount Isa women Bronwyn Howard also remains a missing person.
Family friend, Gary Sullivan, took her to the Tennant Creek Hospital on 29 February, 2012, because he said she needed antipsychotic and antibiotic medication.
Two days later on 2 March, Bronwyn’s brother, Stephen Hunt, drove her to the general practitioner but she walked over to the hospital.
Stephen said it had been a testing time trying to look after Bronwyn as her mental health deteriorated during her stay in Tennant Creek.
“I think she came back to us [her family] because she wasn’t well and thought we’d be able to help but we couldn’t do anything when she had no medication to treat her illness.”
The last known sighting of Bronwyn was in Mount Isa on 13 May. She has not accessed her bank accounts, service centres or contacted her family since.
In Queensland, the campaign is being supported by Alzheimer’s Australia (Qld) in order to highlight the links between missing persons and dementia. In Queensland alone more than 55,800 people live with dementia and dementia related illness.
In Queensland, an average of 6500 people are reported missing each year with the Queensland police recovery rate for 2013 being 99.7 per cent. About 5 per cent of missing persons are 60 years and over.
*Anyone with information which could assist with missing persons should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day.
*Crime Stoppers is a registered charity and community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.
