WHERE IS LORRAINE?
FAMILY LIVING IN HOPE OF SEEING BELOVED GRAN AGAIN AS SECOND CHRISTMAS WITHOUT HER APPROACHES:
THE family of missing Lorraine Ridout are preparing to spend their second Christmas without her.
The wife, mum, and grandmother vanished without trace in Cardiff on January 31 last year.
Her family no longer think she will be found alive – but they remain hopeful the case will one day be solved.
“You have got to have a bit of hope,” daughter Christine, 35, said.
“I think one day they’ll find her. We have to keep that hope. It will be her birthday on December 20. I’m not sure how we’ll mark that – it’ll be her 59th.”
The mum of three was 57 when she disappeared en route to a friend’s home. She was last seen in Aberporth Road, Gabalfa, between 7pm and 8pm.
In the weeks after she disappeared hundreds of people helped with searches of the surrounding area.
“Life is still difficult as it was,” Christine said.
“I go to work and get on with what I’ve got to because it keeps me busy and then my mind is occupied. The night-time is always the worst. When it is quiet and you have got time to think. Most of the time it’s just normal living. I do socialise with friends.”
In their hunt to find Lorraine South Wales Police conducted air, river, and house searches.
A missing persons’ charity emailed Christine just days ago.
“There’s someone doing a documentary about missing people in January and they asked if I would get involved and I said ‘No problem.’ It’s nice that people are still checking in.”
No clues as to what happened have ever been discovered.
“We get bad days because it feels like such a long time,” support worker Christine said.
“It has been a long time. But it feels longer than two years. I still think someone will come forward. I think something has gone unreported.”
Lorraine lived with husband Steven, daughter Christine, her other daughter Sarah, and Christine’s son Caled.
No arrests have been made as part of the investigation.
“I’m working Christmas Day but we are going to have Boxing Day as our Christmas Day and try to make it as normal as possible,” Christine said.
“There are always a lot of tears but we do try because it’s important.”
The family continue to be desperate for answers but they know they might never get them.
“We could be living with this for life,” Christine said. “She is always in our thoughts. I still light a candle for her in the house. I have a candle and a picture on my bedside table.”
The family previously drafted in a psychic in a bid to find her but they were of no use.
“You’ve got to keep your memories going,” said Christine.
“Her laugh was infectious and I remember when she would dance to music and things from when I was a child and she would comfort me.”
January 31 will be the second anniversary of Lorraine going missing.
“Any anniversary that comes up is difficult,” Lorraine said.
“They are just reminders. On her birthday we would be doing something or buying her something, the same with Christmas.
“The day of the anniversary is the day our lives changed. That’s an awful day for all of us.”
South Wales Police could not be reached at the time of writing.
But earlier this year Detective Inspector Mark O’Shea said: “If anybody saw Lorraine or someone fitting her description on the evening of Sunday, January 31, 2016, or if they know what happened to her, please get in touch.
“We remain committed to pursuing every avenue of inquiry and we will never give up on this investigation which will continue until we can explain Lorraine’s disappearance.”
Anyone with information can call 101.