MISSING Person’s Week concluded on Sunday, again raising the question of what happened to Jessica Small, Andrew Russell and Janine Vaughan, all of whom seemingly disappeared without a trace from our city.
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Missing Persons Week is an annual national campaign to raise awareness of the issues and impacts surrounding missing persons and runs between Sunday 30 July and Saturday 5 August 2017.
For the parents of Andrew Russell, last seen alive in June 2009, life without Andrew is hard.
Even harder is the fact no one has been convicted of his murder.
Two men, Tony Simmons and Kieren Moore, once friends with Andrew, were charged in relation to his disappearance.
Moore was charged with being an accessory after the fact, but the matter against him was discharged by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Simmons was charged with Andrew’s murder but was found not guilty after a judge-alone trial spanning 14 weeks, before Justice Peter Hamill.
However, in handing down the sentence Justice Hamill said the evidence he heard during the trial caused him to have “grave suspicions” that Simmons killed Mr Russell.
Bruce said he misses Andrew ever single day.
Sue and Bruce say they “know for sure there are people in Bathurst who know what happened and where Andrew is.”
“Would you want to live like this?” they said.
The ongoing nightmare of their situation is something the families of all missing persons can relate to.
Kylie Spelde, sister of missing Bathurst woman, Janine Vaughan, missing since Friday, December 7, 2001 said every day since Janaine was taken has been a 16-year-long nightmare, which will continue for her family until they find out what happened to a beloved daughter, sister, friend and aunt.
Ricki Small, mother of teenager Jessica, abducted from Bathurst in October 1997, said every year, when Missing Persons Week rolls around, it is another reminder that her daughter is gone, but she said she believes it’s important to remind the public of what happens when someone ‘disappears’.
“People need to get to the truth.”
Ms Small said anniversaries are always hard: Jessica’s birthday, Christmas, and the day she was taken.