Former hostage Terry Waite calls for greater support for missing peoples' families (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Former hostage Terry Waite calls for greater support for missing peoples' families

12:09pm Tuesday 16th December 2008 in Missing People News By Ian Mason

A former hostage negotiator who was himself held captive for 1,763 days has joined forces with an East Sheen charity to call for greater support for the families of missing people.

Terry Waite visited Missing People, in Upper Richmond Road West, on Monday December 15, in support of newly published ‘Living in Limbo,’ for which he wrote the foreword.

It is the first research of its kind in the UK to document the experiences of, and impacts on, families who have seen a loved one go missing.

Mr Waite, who was captured by the Islamic Jihad Organization in 1987, said: “I do understand what it’s like for those who do not know what’s happened to a loved one.

“I left the house one morning intending to be back within a week and it was five years.

“It was three years before my wife and family got any knowledge I was alive.

“My family was pretty well supported but that is not the case with everybody.

Terry Waite

“The strain on the family is inconsumable.”

While he acknowledged his case was exceptional, Mr Waite stressed that anyone waiting to hear news about a missing partner, relative or friend suffers an “appalling emotional strain“.

Mr Waite added: “My family was pretty well supported but that is not the case with everybody.

“You can be from any walk of life and just drop out and disappear.”

The 59-year-old warned that, with a recession looming and more job cuts across various sectors on the horizon, more people may start walking away from their lives - resulting in a surge of new cases being reported to Missing People.

He described the charity as “doing a very valuable job” and is urging residents to support the team and donate what they can, particularly at Christmas when many families find it harder to cope with the loss.

The report lists emotional, social, financial, legal and practical difficulties as some of the obstacles faced by families and Missing People plans to launch a campaign to improve the range of support services available.

Initially, it wants the Government to introduce legislation in England and Wales that creates a single process by which families can apply for a missing person to be presumed dead.

The Richmond and Twickenham Times now half way through its appeal to raise £15,000 for Missing People. Anyone willing to spare a few Christmas pounds can donate using the form on this page or sponsor our hopeful team of reporters in next year’s London Marathon by visiting justgiving.com/rttmarathon. For more information and to see the Living in Limbo report visit missingpeople.org.uk.