(published in 2003)
LORRAINE FREEMAN
Age then: 35
Description: 5ft 1in, slim, dark brown shoulder-length hair. Sometimes uses her middle name, Gabrielle.
Missing from: Purfleet, Essex, since August 13, 1998
IN the lounge of Phyllis Freeman's home, a large brown teddy bear sits on the sofa.
It belonged to her daughter Lorraine, who went missing five years ago. The old bear is one of the few mementoes she has.
"He's all I've got left of her," says Phyllis, 63, a retired care worker from Glasgow. "He always sits there. He's going to sit there till she comes back."
Lorraine disappeared without trace from the Essex home she was sharing with her Irish boyfriend.
She had grown up in Thornliebank, Glasgow, but moved south at the age of 26 after landing a job in London's plush Grosvenor Hotel. She appeared to be happy. But Phyllis is convinced that changed when she met the man who would become her lover for the next eight years.
"She met him not long after she moved to London," says Phyllis. "She was out with a friend and they got lost. They knocked on a door to ask for directions and he answered. I've often wondered what life would be like now if she'd knocked on a different door."
Lorraine had changed jobs several times but she loved working in the hotel industry. From time to time she would travel back to Glasgow to visit her mum. But the visits seemed to be an excuse to get away from her partner.
Phyllis says: "I don't think he was good to her. She came home a couple of times when they fell out. She was very tearful and said, `Don't worry, mum, I'm not as daft as you think. I've got a bank account he doesn't know about'.
"She couldn't do anything without him. He totally controlled her life."
Phyllis has no way of knowing exactly what was happening in her daughter's life just before she disappeared.
The police told her Lorraine's boyfriend went to visit relatives in Ireland. When he returned, Lorraine had gone, apparently without her belongings. Even her coat and purse were left behind.
The last sighting of her came via CCTV cameras which filmed her leaving her home on August 13, 1998. An extensive police inquiry and television appeals have failed to find any trace.
Investigators twice searched gravel pits near her home but found no trace.
Phyllis now has no contact with her daughter's boyfriend. She tore up every photo of him and remains suspicious about his involvement in Lorraine's disappearance.
Phyllis said: "I'd found a psychic whom I thought might be able to help me find Lorraine but she needed a piece of her jewellery to tune into her.
"He wouldn't give me anything. All I got came through the police - a few pots and pans and the teddy bear.
"I live in hope that she just ran away from him and started a new life."Sometimes I wonder if she feels too embarrassed to come home. But I would give her such a hug.
"Every Christmas I hope for a card. Just to see something with her name written on it would be wonderful."Sometimes I think that even if all I get is the chance to give her a burial, then at least I'll know what happened to her.
"Then I think, `Don't be silly. She's probably working in some holiday place like Blackpool and she's fine'.
"It's the not knowing that really gets to you. Someone must know something - I wish they would come forward."
THE MISSING SPECIAL REPORT: Nessa said she would be back to see Corrie ... her family are still waiting; Agnes `Nessa' Mechen Age now: 64 Age then: 64 Description: 5ft 4in, medium build, brown eyes, hair dyed blonde but naturally white Missing from: Govanhill, Glasgow, since August 30, 2002. - Free Online Library
