In Ireland, 897 people are listed as missing, with little or no clue as to what happened to them.

More than 20 years ago, Father Aquinas Duffy, a priest based in Cabinteely, Dublin, set up missing.ie to help people reunite with lost loved ones.

He was inspired to create the website after his cousin Aengus 'Gussie' Shanahan went missing in Limerick in February, 2000.

"We never found out what actually happened but, unknown to us, about a year after he disappeared, a partial remains was uncovered by the Bunratty rescue services there", he explained.

"They lay in the offices of the forensic scientists for 17 years unidentified."

Due to a lack of facilities, it was only in 2018 that the remains were formally identified as Aengus Shanahan.

missing.ie

The website set up by Fr Duffy acts as a public database to work in tandem with Gardaí investigations in hopes of giving missing people the best chance at being found and identified.

"It's so important to keep the pictures and the names out there in the public forum because I think what happens is after a while is the public get tired and these names tend to just disappear into the background", he said.

There are as many as 10,000 cases of missing people reported in Ireland every year, with most found within days or weeks.

But some people in the database have been missing for as long as 60 years.

Families

The impact long-term missing relatives can have on families should not be understated, Fr Duffy said.

"A lot of families have this experience of having someone missing, either for a short period or for a long period", he said.

"It's a terrible situation to be in because you feel guilty for thinking they might be dead and then you think, 'well, maybe they're just out there', but then you say to yourself, 'God, that's terrible, why didn't they make contact?'."

"You're caught between these two emotions, as it were, trying to struggle with exactly what happened to the person."

Reporting information

Fr Duffy wishes to remind people of the impact even tiny pieces of information might have on a case.

"Even people from years ago might recall something that at the time they didn't think was important which could still be important", he said.

"I would always say to people, 'please bring that information forward'."

"Don't think, 'ah, it's not relevant'. It could be very relevant."

Anyone with any information about a missing person can call the Garda confidential line at 1800 666 111 or the missing persons helpline at 1800 442 552.

Main image shows a woman sitting on a wooden chair. Picture by: Noppadol Kostsu / Alamy