The parents of a man missing for 22 years still believe he will walk back through the front door of their family home.
But Michael and Ann Deely have endured a challenging year where no fresh leads over son Trevor’s disappearance has emerged.
With Thursday marking 22 years since he was last seen, his sister Michele said the ordeal has taken a particular toll on her father
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The 48-year-old mother-of-two added: “It’s been soul-destroying for all of us but dad in particular.
“My parents are not getting any younger and they need to know where he is.
“It’s a huge burden but hope he might be alive keeps them going.
“They won’t accept anything different until they get proof.”
The last image captured of Trevor was on CCTV on Haddington Road towards his flat in Ballsbridge, South Dublin, at 4.14am on December 8, 2000.
Footage captured a male dressed in black outside the rear entrance of the Bank of Ireland on Wilton Terrace where Trevor worked. At 3.34am, moments before he approached, the man stepped out on to the footpath and followed him before conversing with him.
The Deeny family will attend the national missing person’s day event in Croke Park on Wednesday, before a prayer service near the family home in Naas, Co. Kildare.
Michele added: “I’ve been dreading this anniversary, because it’s now 22 years Trevor has been missing – the same age he was before he disappeared.
“We will never give up. We just want to know where he is.”
Meanwhile, Gardai have renewed an appeal for information ahead of the 20th anniversary of the disappearance and murder of a woman in Co Mayo.
Sandra Collins was 28 when she was last seen on December 4 2000 in the Country Kitchen, Killala, Co Mayo.
A Garda spokesman said: “Anyone who contacts us will be treated with confidentiality, compassion and sensitivity.”
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