Another year has gone by and still Peter Harris has no idea what happened to his partner of 28 years Paul Rushworth.
"If people in the Mountains could keep an eye out for Paul, or people generally who look like they might need a bit of help."
Paul grew up in the Blue Mountains, attending Lapstone Primary School, and always loved living here. He lived in the Mountains until he was 12. His father had died some years earlier and his Mum had to move to western Sydney where he was cheaper to live.
On September 13, 2013, aged 46, he told his partner he was going to visit the Mountains to go back to Lapstone.
The police report indicates Paul was last seen at 5am when he went for a walk. He later phoned his partner Peter at 7.30am from Circular Quay stating he was going to catch a train to the Mountains and return that night. Paul has not been seen since, although there have been unconfirmed sightings around Sydney.
"We checked the [Mountains] train footage, I've put out 350,000 pamphlets with his picture, we're just not really sure what happened," Mr Harris of Woronora said.
Now Paul Rushworth's image is being circulated on biodegradable coffee cups in parts of Sydney. It was part of Missing Persons Week (Aug 4-10) and The Unmissables campaign [www.theunmissablescampaign.com.au ].
The campaign is run by a tiny unfunded charity, Missing Persons Advocacy Network [MPAN], which humanises missing loved ones beyond their statistics through art.
A total of 38,000 Australians are reported missing each year and there are 2600 long term missing in Australia.
MPAN founder Loren O'Keeffe started the campaign "by pairing families with authors and artists to create really unique, striking artworks that reengage the public and the search. It's a modern take on the old milk carton ... at cafes all around Australia."
Mr Harris said many of the missing had had mental health problems. In the week leading up to his partner's disappearance he did have some concerns about his partner's health.
"He started worrying about a talk he had to give at uni ... he called Lifeline ... we saw a clinical nurse. He mentioned possibly seeing a doctor that day."
Ms O'Keeffe said only one to two per cent of missing persons related to crime, but 85 per cent were mental health issues.
Mr Rushworth of Surry Hills would now be 52. He is 170 cms tall, with a thin build, brown eyes and brown hair and a fair complexion.
"I'm still thinking he's around somewhere and I'll never give up," Mr Harris said. "How do you explain it? No-one can understand. There is no closure. You don't know if he's okay."
- The Australian Federal Police has an online register of all reported missing people. If you have any information on missing persons call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.