September 1 marks five long years for the Ballarat family of Donny Govan, as they face the anniversary of his disappearance.
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Donny was 16 when he was last seen at a campsite in Echuca on September 1, 2012.
He was with his sister and four friends before he ventured into thick bush and never returned.
But his brave family say they will never give up the search to find him.
"We're never going to give up, and we're not going to stop harrassing the detectives," Donny’s sister Rachael O’Keane said.
"It's surreal, five years on and we don't know where he is. I can't come to terms with it."
Rachael’s words come after a moving street mural of Donny was unveiled along Kerr Street in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, near the well-known Evelyn Hotel.
The co-creator of the mural, Melbourne street artist Mike Eleven, said Donny’s “innocence is now immortalised in paint.”
Rachael said she hoped the mural would bring new attention to her brother’s case and lead to new information regarding his whereabouts.
The artwork was the latest piece in a powerful campaign launched earlier this year by Missing Persons Advocacy Network called Unmissables.
Organisers said it involved a re-imagining of traditional missing persons posters into vibrant stories and images that reflect the person that family and friends know.
It aims to match artists and authors with the family of a long-term missing person, creating a piece of art that portrays the missing person as an individual.
Rachael recently visited the mural with family, including her niece, Harmony O'Keane, 4, who her sister Katrina O’Keane gave birth to just four day’s after Donny’s disappearance back in 2012.
A beautiful photo was captured, showing Harmony and Donny together after they tragically missed out on meeting each other by just a few days.
“This is the only photo we have of them together,” Rachael said.
“It is a hard week for our family every year, especially because it’s my mum’s birthday the day before of Donny’s disappearance and then Harmony’s birthday a few days later.
"Donny's a happy-go-lucky kid, but he's not a kid anymore, it's five years on.
"He’s 21 now. I’m sure his personality is still the same."
If you have any information regarding Donny, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
