Family speaks of heartbreak and 'daily torture' over missing man

Michael Conboy, 81, of Saxcourt, Hull, last spoke to his sister Ellen King in a telephone call at 10.30pm on Sunday, April 19, last year and has not been seen or heard of since.

At an emotional Press conference yesterday, three of Mr Conboy's closest relatives spoke of their anxiety and heartache, and said they were desperate to know what had happened.

Mr Conboy's nephew Paul Robinson, 47, said: "Today marks a very difficult date for the family of Michael Conboy.

"It is exactly one year since Mick was reported missing. In the months since, despite extensive searches of the local area by family members, Humberside Police officers and support from specialist dog search teams, we are no closer to finding him.

"It is heartbreaking for his brother and sisters to go through the daily torture of not knowing where he is, or when they are likely to hear what has happened to him.

"We are now totally reliant on someone, somewhere who remembers seeing Mick at any time during the past 12 months. If you know anything no matter how insignificant it may have seemed at the time please get in touch with the police.

"We are just totally relying on someone's good will." His mother Sheila Robinson, 77, Mr Conboy's sister, said the strain of the past year had been overwhelming.

"It's dreadful," she said. "You just don't feel the same. It's the first thing you think of in the morning when you wake up and the last thing at night.

"At nine o'clock I'm looking at the clock thinking the phone's going to ring and it will be Mick. But she said the family would "never give up".

Mr Conboy has a twin sister, Nora, who lives in Bridlington.

Asked how she was coping, Mrs King said: "Dreadful. I think worse than us perhaps, because she's part of him."

The family said they did not believe Mr Conboy had been well enough to be discharged from Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, which he left three weeks before going missing.

He had spent three weeks in the hospital being treated for a viral infection, and his family said it appeared to have left him confused.

Mrs King said she had been surprised by the time of Mr Conboy's phone call on April 19. "On the Sunday night at 10.30pm he rang me and I said 'why are you ringing at this time?' He said 'I don't know really'. I knew then he was a little bit muddled.

"I said 'would you like me to take you to the doctor?', and he said 'Yes'."

When Mrs King called him the next morning after booking an appointment, there was no answer and his bungalow was empty when she went round. The curtains were drawn and the lights were on, suggesting the retired council gardener may have left the previous night or in the early hours.

As well as conducting extensive searches, police have investigated 35 possible sightings of the pensioner, which all proved negative. Missing persons officer, Pc Alex Longbone, said: "If anybody has got any information, no matter how small, please tell us and we will investigate."

Mr Conboy is 5ft 4in to 5ft 5in tall, very slim and balding with grey hair. He may be wearing glasses and usually wears a shirt, tie and trousers.

Anyone with information can call 0845 6060 222.