Grieving Wisbech mum issues plea for help to find missing son 13 years after he disappeared

The heartbroken mother of a missing Wisbech man has issued a plea for information on the 13th anniversary of his disappearance.

Terry McSpadden disappeared in the early hours of March 2 2007 and although a body has never been found detectives are convinced he has been killed.

Helen Thrower McSpadden said the pain of not knowing what happened to her 24-year-old son 13 years ago has never lessened and her family are still desperate to find his body and bring the person responsible for his murder to justice.

She admits that realistically her son is dead, but she said while he has not been found there is always a tiny glimmer of hope, that never leaves her.

"He has been gone 13 years and I'm sure if he was going to come back he would have done by now. But despite that there is a little tiny bit of hope that may be he is not dead and it is the not knowing what happened to him that haunts me and the family," said Helen, who looks after Terry's two children Kayce, 17 and 15-year-old Charlie.

Kayce has vague memories of her dad, but Charlie, who was just two at the time of Terry's disappearance only knows about him from what friends and family have told him and old photographs.

Helen said: "The children are fantastic, they are a comfort to me but also a constant reminder of Terry. He would be so proud of them and the way they are growing up, he was a devoted dad and I know he would never willingly have left his children. I would love to be able to show him their brilliant school reports, and talk to him about how wonderful they are.

"Kayce had her school prom last year and she looked stunning, I know Terry would have been so proud to see her in her prom dress. She deals with what's happened in her own way and only talks about her dad now and again, but Charlie does ask a lot of questions and it is very very hard for him to understand and make sense of everything.

"To be honest I find it difficult to get my own head around it. We would love to know what happened and to finally be able to lay Terry to rest. We have been grieving for 13 years, we have never been able to move on because there are so many unanswered questions and the not knowing is so painful.

"There are also lots of 'what ifs' - Would Terry have met a new partner? Would we have more grandchildren? What would he look like now? What would he be doing? They are all questions we will never know the answer to. But I really hope someone out there knows what happened and comes forward so we can have some closure.

"Thirteen years is a long time, time has moved on, maybe people's loyalties have changed. Maybe they have children or grandchildren of their own and could think about what it would be like for them to not know what happened to their dad. They can come forward and give information anonymously, if they would prefer to do that - that is fine, I just want them to speak up."

Terry was reported missing after failing to turn up for work at Economy Windows in Wisbech. The last confirmed sighting was in the early hours of March 2 at a cashpoint outside Tesco’s. He had spent the evening in The Locomotive pub with friends after work.

Helen said Terry was staying with a friend in Elm at that time. A few weeks previously, he shared a traumatic incident with family, friends and his probation officer that had occurred at this house because of that, as soon as Terry didn’t arrive at work, the alarm was raised and officers informed about the incident. He had had a minor brush with the law a few months earlier and had an electronic tag. The monitoring device went out of range at 08.43hrs on that morning.

Despite the high profile investigation with extensive enquiries and searches, Terry has never been found, nor has the tag or his black mountain bike.

Police charged a man with Terry’s murder in 2012 but the trial collapsed due to insufficient evidence.

Norfolk's Major Investigation Team strongly believe there are people who know how and why he has disappeared. Despite his minor offence, investigators say he was known as a reliable and hard worker by his employers and was well liked in his community.

The consensus is that Terry was murdered soon after the last confirmed sighting. An inquest in November 2016 recorded an open verdict, on the understanding should any further evidence come to light it was possible another inquest could be heard.

If you have any information that could help the investigation, contact: unsolvedcasereviews@norfolk.pnn.police.uk.

If you would prefer to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or use their online reporting service. Alternatively, phone/text Missing People charity on 116 000 or email 116000@missingpeople.org.uk quoting reference 10-000639.