Missing people in north Essex: who they are and how to help

Indeed, these are the names of normal people, only nobody seems to know where they are or what happened to them.

Officially, they are missing people.

Anthony Stammers, 27, went missing from his home in Mile End, Colchester in 2012 after he told his mum he was going to meet friends in London.

He was expected to arrive at Colchester Crematorium the following day for his grandfather’s funeral but never turned up and was reported missing.

A major search was carried out, but that spring evening remains the last time he was seen.

Over the past decade detectives have followed up potential sightings of Anthony in Colchester, Doncaster and London but none yielded any significant lines of inquiry.

The talented musician withdrew £140 in cash from an ATM near his home but no transactions in relation to his account have been made since, and the moment was not captured on CCTV.

Timothy Salmon disappeared from Clacton five years earlier in May 2007.

The search for the 45-year-old was similarly extensive, and neighbours in his Clacton High Street flat described how they saw forensics digging up part of the garden and searching the bushes.

Mr Salmon apparently had no financial support since May 2007, when he vanished leaving clothing and personal possessions in his room.

He used to make regular contact with his mother in London and his son in Clacton, especially at birthday times.

The father-of-three had lived in Clacton for most of his life, was well known in the area and used to frequent various pubs in the town.

In 2003 Sandra Gant, also from Clacton, vanished.

It has left her four children wondering what happened to her, where she went, and why.

Sandra Grant

Daughter Lauren Cheasley was left asking: “How can someone disappear off the face of the earth and no one knows anything?”

A murder investigation was soon launched and four people were arrested, but no charges were ever brought.

Lacking concrete evidence, witnesses or a body, the investigation faltered and the trail went cold.

The mother-of-four had seemingly vanished without a trace.

In 1978, Jill Brown in Dovercourt went missing at the age of 19 when she was making her way to work.

Her family have been thinking about her every day for nearly 50 years, with sisters Janet and Elizabeth making an appeal a year ago in the hope Miss Brown would contact them.

Jill Brown has not been seen since 1978 (Image: Family)

Jill, who is 5ft 2ins tall, had shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a blue mac when she disappeared. 

She took no clothes with her and did not have any money. 

Luke Durbin, aged 19 at the time of his disappearance, vanished during the early hours of May 12, 2006, after a night-out with his friends in Ipswich town centre.

The following day the former Colchester college pupil’s mum Nicki Durbin reported him missing and an investigation was launched by the police.

Officers confirmed Luke was last captured on CCTV at 4am walking across a zebra crossing in Dogs Head Street towards a bus stop.

There was also a report Luke, described as 5ft 10inches tall, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, had been seen in a blue Renault Megane driven by a black man. Despite an extensive search, Luke has not been seen since disappearing.

When someone vanishes it leaves friends and families in limbo with so many questions – many of which will never be answered.

In situations like these, there are charities and organisations which can help, even if they can’t necessarily answer those questions.

One of those charities is Missing People, where helplines manager Martha McBrier has worked for six years.

She said: “Coming to terms with not knowing can be hard to live with.

“It’s a case of working with that person to say to them, ‘how can we help you live with the fact that you might never know?’

“It’s about finding ways that they can come to terms with that.”

She added: “People think they vanish, but they don’t – we just don’t know what made them disappear.

“Every situation is different.

“We have families whose loved one went missing near water – no other tracings, no other sightings.

“We have families where they know it is likely their loved one is dead, but they just don’t know what became of them.”

Mrs McBride continued by saying the lack of closure families feel when a loved one goes missing can be harder than experiencing the death of a relative.

“Some people don’t want to have false hope, because that hope is more painful than knowing that they are dead,” she said.

“Someone might say, ‘don’t lose hope’, but hope is quite an exhausting thing.

“If a loved one is missing, they will get that support from us and their family support team – we have a family counselling service for families as well if they are really struggling to come to terms with the loss.”

Anyone who needs support coping with a missing loved one, or has information about anyone who is missing, should call or text 116 000.