Patricia Duncan vanished in the night in 2002, aged 51. Her daughter Johan Duncan tells the Mirror of her desperate search, and struggle to continue with life as normal without her
Patricia Duncan went missing on 15th November 2002, from Buckie, Scotland, aged 51. Her daughter Johan Duncan, 47, lives in Buckie, Scotland, and works in the NHS. She has a partner, Darren, 51, a road worker, and the couple have children, Matthew, 28, and Trista, 17
She says: “Mum was a loving, caring mother, who did everything for her family. She loved looking after her grandchildren. My son Matthew was five when she went missing, I worked in a shop and she helped out with childcare. In the week she disappeared she’d been picking him up from school as possible. There were no signs that anything was wrong.
“On the night of the 15th November 2002, my sisters Fiona and Louise, and my mum and were at my parent’s house watching movies. My sisters went to bed and mum and dad stayed up to watch another, before heading to bed about midnight. When dad got up in the morning there was no sign of mum. She took her jacket, cigarettes and lighter – no purse. We had a lot of animals at the time – rabbits, ducks, pigs – but she wasn’t out feeding them. Dad drove around town to look for her, before going to the police.
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“To leave without a word was so out of character. She used to leave a note when she was going to the shops – let alone leaving in the middle of the night. Police performed a door to door search, and took out a cadaver dog, and the family searched along the coastline, in case she’d gone for a walk.
“Nothing. Nobody heard a word from her ever again. Over the years we’ve had sightings, with the odd person saying they’ve seen someone who fits her description, one as far as Malta, but all have come to nothing. Darren once saw a lady he was sure was mum, but on closer inspection turned out to be stranger.
“When you have a family member that passes away you have closure, but we don’t have that – it hangs over us all the time. You learn to live with it, but it’s always there. Birthdays, Christmases and on Mother’s Day it’s especially hard. When I’m at the shops I still think, mum would love that. And at first I would buy it to keep for her return. But as so much time passed, I stopped.
“I feel sad for my children, who were stripped of growing up with their grandma. Although we’ve told them all about her, and they scan around to look for her. The police concluded that mum had probably gone into the sea, although her case remains open. We hardly ever hear from them now.
“We went down the route of presumption of death, so dad could get his affairs in order, but truth be told we don’t think she is dead. We’re still actively searching for her. We hope one day someone – or mum – will see something in a paper, and get in touch. But as the years go on it’s getting harder. Ultimately, we just want her to be happy, and to know that she’s alive. We all love and miss her very much.”
MISSING PEOPLE
Someone is reported missing every 90 seconds in the UK where, every year, more than 170,000 people go missing, including nearly 75,000 children. The Mirror’s Missed campaign is calling for better support and care for missing people and their families. Backed by Missing People, the only UK charity dedicated to supporting missing children and adults and their loved ones, we are campaigning to stop missing people from falling through the cracks. Many are found, but others remain missing, leaving them at serious risk of harm and causing heartbreak for their loved ones.
A few cases become high-profile, gaining nationwide attention from the media and politicians. But many go unreported, leaving devastated families battling to be heard. Race, class, gender, sexuality, job choices, familial ties can all be factors. People disappear for many reasons, including mental health issues, suicide, exploitation and dementia. But there’s no clear government strategy to prevent this or to support people. A dedicated strategy led by the Home Office, Department for Education, and Department for Health and Social Care could provide the proper attention and resources.
The Mirror’s asks:
• Publish a new missing children and adults strategy to ensure police, health and social care play their part
• Invest in prevention for those at most risk of going missing
• Offer support to every missing child and adult on their returnMissing mums
*The Mirror is using its platform to run Missed – a campaign to shine a light on underrepresented public-facing missing persons in the UK in collaboration with Missing People Charity. Because every missing person, no matter their background or circumstances, is someone’s loved one. And they are always Missed. For more information, visit missingpeople.org.uk
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