Keeping my mum's case in the public eye: NPMPW 2024

National Missing Persons Week is always an emotional time, but it’s incredibly important. It provides a chance to highlight the ongoing search for missing loved ones, ensuring their cases are never forgotten. For families, it can also serve as a painful reminder of the uncertainty and heartache that comes with not knowing what happened to a loved one.

Living with the pain of an unresolved missing person’s case means grappling with what’s known as ambiguous loss, a unique form of loss that describes the uncertainty of not knowing what happened to someone you love. It’s a complex and often isolating experience that families of missing persons live with every day. With over 2,600 long-term missing persons in Australia, many others face this same challenge. Families often find themselves calling on the public to help keep the case in the spotlight and encourage anyone with information to come forward.

In the lead-up to National Missing Persons Week 2024, I had the opportunity to secure billboards to raise awareness for my mum, who has been missing for 12 years. It’s been a long and difficult journey, and this moment felt like a small but significant step in keeping her story visible.

I was fortunate to secure billboards in key locations: on the Gold Coast, where my mum is from, just a short distance from where we lived and shared many memories, as well as in Logan, Sydney, and Victoria. Seeing these billboards in person was surreal. It filled me with hope that they may spark a conversation or lead to potential information about where my mum might be.

These billboards serve as a reminder to keep my mum's case in the public eye and continue the search for her.

This campaign would not have been possible without the support of Tony Haines from ei media and Grant Kirkby from Outdoor Advertising Collective. Thank you to Alison Weirick from Cupcake Design Studio Pty Ltd for creating the impactful campaign artwork. A special thanks to Janine Wood for connecting us all and making it possible.

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