‘All I want is to is know where he so I can bring him home’
‘‘ He said ‘I am off out mam, see you later ’and he looked so happy going around the corner. Just every day I think about that because that is the last time I have ever seen him - Robert’s mum, Cheryl
HE was just 15 when he walked out of the door and said goodbye to his mother – but he never returned.
And now, 19 years later, his heartbroken mother, resigned to the likelihood of him never being found alive, has made a fresh appeal in a bid to find her son Robert Williams and bring him home for a proper burial.
Mum Cheryl said there is never a day she hasn’t thought about her son Robert in all those years.
Speaking to BBC’S Crimewatch Live she said: “He was a character, he always made you laugh.
“He loved his sport; he was never without a ball, a rugby ball or a football, he just loved everything about it.
“The morning Robert went missing was just like any other morning.
“He said ‘I am off out mam, see you later’ and he looked so happy going around the corner.
“Just every day I think about that because that is the last time I have ever seen him”.
It was March 2002 and when Robert failed to return home that night, there was a frantic search of the streets around Resolven to find him.
But as more days passed the family began to fear the worst.
Rumours of sightings of Robert would reach the family, prompting them to search those areas.
“But still there was nothing,” said Cheryl.
“I never did see him. I never could find him.
“I still have to look out the window of my home, it is like a comfort for me.
“Every night I still look, every morning I look. It is just something I feel I have to do.
“We know Robert is no longer here any more, and we accept that, we have no choice.
“There is not a day goes by when I do not think about him”.
In July 2010 police issued a picture of how Robert would look aged 23 in a fresh bid for information.
This year he would have reached his 34th birthday.
“I know somebody out there knows something,” said Cheryl.
“Somebody was the last person to see my son alive.
“It is all we want as a family is to fetch him home and lay my son to rest like any other parent would, where you have somewhere to go to grieve and you know where they are.
“The slightest thing that you might think is not important might be really important to us.
“I would just ask them to come forward.
“Please just help me fetch my son home and give him the burial he deserves”.
She added: “I have never had the answers I have needed and all I want is to know where Robert is so I can bring him home and lay him to rest and finally grieve properly.
“I know someone knows what happened to Robert, you may have been young at the time and not known what to do or been scared of repercussions from others who knew.
“But time has passed and putting Robert to rest and telling someone what you know would be an end of carrying the burden yourself and the end of the suffering for my family.
“You may have children of your own and have some understanding as a parent what I am still going through.
“I need to know where Robert is, I do not want to be a mother who never finds out what happened to her son.”
DI David Butt of South Wales Police said: “19 years ago we launched a missing person appeal after Robert Williams was reported missing by his mother Cheryl.
“There is information that he may have spent the next few days in the Aberdulais area and since 2002 we have followed numerous leads to establish exactly what has happened to Robert.
‘‘ The slightest thing that you might think is not important might be really important to us
“Every time we get a new lead we liaise with Cheryl and I see the hope in her rise that she may finally get the answers she desperately wants.
“Up until now despite our best efforts we have not been able to establish what happened to Robert but I do believe that, even given all this time past, someone in our communities does have information which will help us.
“Please do not hesitate to tell us what you know.”
Anyone with information should contact us and quote occurrence 62070210819.
People can contact South Wales Police:
■ By sending a private message on Facebook/ Twitter
■ Via email at: Publicservicecentre@southwales.police.uk
■ By reporting to South Wales Police’s website https://www.southwales.police.uk/ro/report/
■ By phoning 101
■ Or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.