Peace Trail

---

Danny Cullen and Joanne Conway have both experienced what it is like, lost a loved one,

What Would You do if You get a loved one to go Home ? Disappeared.

It is a pain felt by thousands of families in Northern Ireland each year.

Some Live With great sorrow, after a relative, the body is found, other shoulder the unbearable burden of not knowing What Happened .

A Family that someone dies the pain

"If You have to accept it. If someone is missing, they can not accept. "

Joanne Conway , the road is easy way cold.

her face lights up when She talks about her Brother Gerard , the eldest of The Family , now missing from his Home in Cookstown, County Tyrone , for 13 years.

Home footage of Gerard Conway singing, in April 1993

A friendly, generous man, She Says , was funny, and loved English, history, Politics .

"We had many Good Times that we go Out liked together in the pub. He loved the singing, we all loved to sing and dance. He always made You feel safe.

"He would tell You how it is - if it is to say good, bad or ugly, he. He was honest. He was a good Big Brother . "

Gerard Conway is Still Missing , 13 years after he left his Home in County Tyrone

But There is a deep sadness coupled with the frustration that so many years have passed, and Gerard , 32, is Still Missing . Went to leave, seemingly without a trace.

Gerard had Bipolar Disorder . The Last recorded sighting of him was at a bank in Cookstown on 25. January 2007.

At The Time , His Mother .

Joanne Says : "We have tried every contact we knew, he would have hung on. Everything has somehow, come.

"We have made posters, to all, everything in and around Cookstown and the surrounding locations. Nothing, nothing at all. It was scary, You feel like, this is not happening.

"But it was happening. You are clutching to try to straws, to find ways, solutions, answers, But all came back empty. "

Joanne Conway Says , if She knew where her Brother , Gerhard, was that She would bring him Home

received In The Five years to December 2018, the PSNI, More Than 60,000 reports of Missing Persons in Northern Ireland . The vast majority turn up to 80% are usually found within The First 24 Hours , But 119 were recorded as dead.

Fifty-eight will still say as a long-term Missing Persons cases and The Police , You are required to check active.

Conway-family-to come The Hours of waiting for Gerard to get Home , turned into days and The Days became months and the months into years.

The Police - the tenth anniversary of his disappearance.

But the PSNI said at The Time that, despite "extensive" requests over A Number of years, including the cooperation with The Police in The Republic of Ireland, There was "no evidence of his whereabouts".

The recent Police search Gerard Conway took place in and around the Drummond wood area of Cookstown in June 2020, But nothing was found.

Joanne Says that in the course of time has made your Brother disappear all easier to carry.

"It had a big impact on Our Family . It creates so much tension and stress, anger. You need to find him, to move on to fill The Gap , fill in the Missing Link . "

The Family accept that Gerard is dead, But There are too many Unanswered Questions .

GettyNI' s man missing

2013 - 2018More than 60,000 reports of Missing Persons

Deceased119 recorded as a "tote"

Found80%, You can find usually within The First 24 Hours

Still missing58 in the long term, be considered the cases

source: Police Service of Northern Ireland

"What has happened to him, where is he? You have to answer. You see, You can have Your Funeral , You can bury it, You feel like You can go and talk with them," She Says .

"You lose a lot of trouble, a lot of frustration, to stay with someone just disappear without a trace, they simply can not accept.

"I often think, if it is missing for me, Gerard would have found me, he would have left no stone unturned. For me, I feel: 'What can I do to find him?'"

The Family have their own theories about what Gerard might have happened - Most of them believe that he was murdered after "always mess with the wrong people".

But , Joanne Says : "I know What Happened to Gerard . If I knew, we would have him.

"that would be The Other scenario, if Gerard had perhaps committed suicide, and it was involved in the play no foul. But we can't accept that. I can't accept that. "

'We woke up to A Nightmare '

since a few weeks The Face of the 33-year-old Michael Cullen staring from the "missing" posters on lamp posts and flyers in and around his Home city of Belfast.

A researcher at the University of Ulster, Michael is also an award-winning beatbox performer, the passion was fitness. He was last in contact with His Family on 9. January 2018.

Michael Cullen is missing. Of January 2018

His Brother , Danny , remembers His Family 's shock, as She was missing, discovered Michael .

"I was in The House , and we found Out that Michael is responding to us at all," Says Danny . To was "this time it is completely Out of character for him-and this is what worries Our Family .

"During this time, it was very difficult. It's like Every Day was the same rail. There is a lack of sleep, and if You would Wake up, he would like to Wake up to your nightmare.

"this Time Was devastating and I would not want You to anyone. "

Michael Cullen was an award-winning beatboxer

the Michael Cullen family experienced the unimaginable hardship to know where he was for 22 days.

It was a drone, a massive search with Police , community groups, and at one point, a Police .

His Family played every scenario over in your head. Michael was injured? He was trying to get some Space ?

since a few weeks The Face of the 33-year-old Michael Cullen staring from the "missing" posters

"Every Day we are Out There , from light to dark, and it [The Search ] involved a community search and rescue," recalls his Brother .

"You were looking, every evening, with a team of volunteers.

"We have people from everywhere, volunteering and The Police were looking into it. They were all great and heroes for their support. "

he left her in the lurch.

"Through the whole search, I don't believe that Michael had taken his own life," Says Danny .

Danny Cullen tells of the horror of the realization that his Brother , Michael , has been missing and believed

"I knew it was a possibility that he would be found alive, and maybe injured.

"I had not believed that he had done everything himself, because I had not seen any signs. This goes to show You that There are so many people, You can walk past them, on any other day, and You don't see the problems that they face inward. "

Link to Mental Health ?

Northern Ireland has the highest rate of suicide in the UK; it is also higher than that of The Republic of Ireland.

In January, Northern Ireland 's health Minister Robin Swann said, fighting the suicide was an important priority for his Department.

Find a missing loved one has been killed, relatives can aggravate the guilt, Says Siobhan O'neill, professor of Mental Health Sciences at the University of Ulster.

"Often, The Family is The Feeling , somehow, that You had debt that You may not spot The Signs ," She Says . "It is often very, very difficult to spot The Signs .

"The Family is tormented with the idea that You have somehow prevented this. There is The Search for this person and also the devastating damage as a result of a suicide. "

More needs to be done to tackle what it calls a "very pertinent issue" in Northern Ireland .

Although good services exist in a crisis situation, Prof O'neill emphasized: "Seventy percent of those who die by suicide is not yet in contact with services for Mental Health , and perhaps the only connection You had to the health services through their family doctor.

"We need to be very clear: we need more investment in Mental Health services.

"suicide is a preventable Death - There are many things we need to do.

"one Of these things is the provision of adequate services for Mental Health , for people who could benefit from Mental Health services. "

She stresses that not everyone, lack of a Mental Health problem; similarly, A Life can be-event, the trigger for someone to disappear the simple.

But the loss of someone that You don't know where You are, can have a catastrophic effect on A Family , She Says .

The Police is on The Front , if someone is Reported Missing .

cookstown, suicide prevention, mental health, missing people, police service of northern ireland

Source of news: bbc.com