‘I learned of my missing brother’s death online’
Bronwen Vearncombe put her brother Meurig’s name into Google on her birthday, as she did every year.
She had done it regularly since she last saw him 28 years ago, when he “disappeared off the face of the Earth”.
This year she discovered that he had died, aged 53, and faced a pauper’s funeral because next-of-kin could not be traced.
The WalesOnline story she found was an appeal by friends of the “muchloved gentle giant” in the Bermondsey area of London, where he had settled two decades earlier.
They had put a story in their local newspaper, the Southwark News, which our website covered last summer.
According to the newspaper, his large frame and “sunny disposition” were instantly recognisable around the community, and he found local fame for being a “gentle giant”.
Bronwen said learning of his death had been a shock – but she was pleased to know how loved he had been.
Bronwen, now aged 53 and married with two children, told the Southwark News: “It was my birthday on March 9 and I had been to watch that film Lion, about the Indian boy who got adopted, and it really inspired me that it took him 25 years to find his mother.
“I got home, it was about 11pm, and I decided to Google it again and came across the article on Facebook.
“It was a shock, but so nice to hear how much he was loved by people, and it was amazing what they did for him.”
Now she has publicly thanked his friends for paying for the funeral and is hoping to meet them to find out more about his life.
Gomer disappeared at the age of 27.
His sister last saw him when they were both visiting their parents at their family home in Conwy.
Despite hiring private detectives, the family had not been able to trace him until Bronwen did an internet search on her birthday earlier this month.
Gomer, born in July 1962, and Bronwen, born in March 1964, were not blood related, but were both adopted by Wendi and Leslie Wyn-Roberts.
Their adoptive parents, from Anglesey and Conwy, had lived out in South Africa for about 10 years and decided to move to Henley-on-Thames, near Oxford, when Gomer was five, to give their children a good education.
“It was a great upbringing,” said Bronwen. “My father had a good job and Gomer went to a really nice private school and I went to the comprehensive. We had a happy childhood.
“He didn’t go to uni; he wasn’t the uni type. He did some work in London and had lots of different jobs. When I started working in London I used to see him regularly.
“He could charm anyone. He was good-looking, and women would fall at his feet. He was very popular.
“When I got married in February 1990 he didn’t make the wedding and he didn’t get in touch.
“My dad spent a lot of money looking for him over the years, and before he died in 2004 one of the last things he said to me was about my brother – and it broke my heart to know that he died not knowing and my mother just couldn’t talk about it any more.
“Someone told me he’s got a daughter and I would love to meet her.”