A Wollongong family is renewing efforts to find a missing loved one, one year on. Friday marked a year since 77-year-old Ray Speechley vanished from the Princes Highway at Dalmeny, after leaving a nearby IRT aged care facility.
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Mr Speechley was suffering from Alzheimer's but had only been placed in care temporarily, to give his wife Jan Speechley respite.
Though there have been no new leads as to his whereabouts, his family has not given up hope.
“We will never stop looking for him and never stop loving him,” said Mrs Speechley, who has now moved to Wollongong to be closer to other family members.
Wollongong is also where the family suspect Ray may have been trying walk to once he got out of the aged care facility, as he used to live there and often mentioned it.
Nobody come forward in relation to the red or maroon car, possibly a Honda Accord, seen stopped on the highway where Mr Speechley was last seen
The weather was horrendous that Thursday and over the days that followed, with cold and rainy conditions.
The retirement home has since made changes at its facility in an effort to prevent other elderly patients with dementia from escaping.
A memorial cross to Mr Speechley, built by the Narooma Men's Shed, has been erected near the place where he was last seen.
His daughter Nikii Smith, of Muswellbrook, oversees a Facebook page called Help Find Ray Speechley.
Last month Rufus and his handlers did a preliminary search of bushland lining the highway where Mr Speechley was last seen.
The dog is still in training and would be back to do a more thorough search in upcoming months, said Ms Smith, who has also organised her own volunteer searches in October and December, involving up to 20 volunteers.
“It’s like looking for a needle in 10,000 haystacks but we’ve got to keep going,” she said.
“It’s a Catch 22 situation because the police won’t organise another search until there is a new lead, but we won’t get any new leads unless we do a search.”
Contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Batemans Bay police on 4472 0099 to aid the search effort.
