Agony of dad’s disappearance won’t go away
WHEN LINDA Findlay leaves the house, she scans the people in the street looking for one familiar face.
It’s been 10 years since her dad, David Findlay, vanished at the age of 69, after leaving his home in Cardonald, Glasgow, to go for a walk.
His daughter wakes each day wondering if it will be the day she learns what happened to her dad.
It’s a source of constant pain, which the mum of three says will never go away.
Linda, 53, said: “It’s always in the back of my head when I’m out walking about. I still look for him.
“If I’m walking about the streets and see police coming in and out my close I think, ‘Is this it? Have they found him or remains?’”
Police say the last confirmed sighting of David, a grandad of five, was on the day of his disappearance at the junction of Sauchiehall Street and West Nile Street in the city centre.
Officers followed up a number of unconfirmed sightings in Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Milngavie, Kirkintilloch, Shettleston and Kilsyth – but all attempts to locate David proved unsuccessful.
Two years ago, images of David shopping in Morrisons in Cardonald on the day he disappeared were released by the police – to the shock of his family.
Linda said: “I know there’s not always feedback but I feel as if the police could do more.
“You don’t hear from them from one year to the next and I just think the authorities should be working more with the families.”
Asked if she believes her dad is still alive, Linda said: “Sometimes I do. I think if he’s out there or his remains were out there, surely they would have found them by now.
“It drains you. It’s not getting any easier but as the years go on, my family is expanding.
“A lot of people have said to me to let it go as the years go by but I’m not letting it go. It’s my dad.
“I’ve not grieved and I don’t know one way or another if he’s here or if he has passed.”
David was in the early stages of dementia when he disappeared.
Linda added: “He was diagnosed in the December but was in the very early stages.
“I don’t know if he felt he was a burden to people and that’s why he disappeared.
“I’ve gone down every road to find him. My dad would have been 80 this year.
“I’ll never give up until I’ve got the closure one way or another.”
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