MISSING MUM SEARCH HITS THE ROAD
CARDIFF GRAN WHO VANISHED 16 MONTHS AGO WILL BE ONE OF FIRST PEOPLE TO FEATURE IN NEW MISSING PERSONS LORRY CAMPAIGN
THE image of Lorraine Ridout is to appear on the sides of delivery trucks around Wales in a bid to find the missing grandmother.
Hundreds of officers have spent thousands of hours undertaking interviews and examining evidence in the effort to find the mother of three and grandmother of one since she vanished on January 31, 2016.
The 57-year-old’s picture will now be put on the side of lorries belonging to delivery firm Palmer and Harvey as part of a campaign organised with charity Missing People. It is called Delivering Hope.
Lorraine’s daughter Christine said Missing People contacted her to ask if she wanted her mum to feature.
“They will be going on lorries from Bristol,” she said.
“They go from Bristol but they deliver to Cardiff and all around Wales.
“It’s good, it’s keeping it out there and will hopefully get people coming forward.”
She said things were “not getting any easier” since her mum’s disappearance.
“It’s a six-month campaign to raise more awareness,” Christine said.
“I’m not going to stop any advertising, I am still none the wiser about what happened all this time down the line.
“It’s a good thing and it is nice that they are willing to do this.”
Lorraine’s picture will appear on the roads in the next few weeks making her “one of the first appeals to be featured on the vans”.
Missing People chief executive Jo Youle said: “When someone is missing, it is almost always a sign that something is seriously wrong.
“One of the charity’s key focuses is to appeal to a missing person to let them know that we are here for them, as well as asking the public to share vital information.
“The new Delivering Hope campaign will be instrumental in helping us extend the reach of our publicity appeals and we really hope it will play a role in reuniting missing people with their loved ones.”
Palmer and Harvey managing director Martyn Ward said the sides of its vehicles were like “a blank canvas that could be used to grab people’s attention and help those in the communities we serve.
“The Delivering Hope campaign allows us to use our extensive delivery network to help this hugely inspiring cause,” he said.
“Missing People does incredible work every day to search for and reach out to missing people on behalf of their friends and family.
“By using our delivery vans to display missing people posters, we hope to further raise awareness of missing people in the areas they were last seen, and deliver hope to families who are waiting for news about their loved ones.
“We are delighted to be able to lend our assets to such a vital cause.”
In January, South Wales Police said they believed the answer to Lorraine’s disappearance lay in Cardiff.
She was last seen on Aberporth Road, Gabalfa, the area she spent most of her life.
South Wales Police said anyone with information about Lorraine should call them on 101 quoting 036372.