Anthony FAHEY was last seen in Belconnen, ACT about 4.40pm
on 03/07/2013. It is believed that at this time he boarded a bus from
Canberra bound for Sydney. Mr FAHEY has not been seen or heard from since
this time and his current whereabouts are unknown.
From his family - Anthony (Tony) Fahey is still missing. Sadly there has
been absolutely no trace of him. Tony was last seen boarding a bus from Canberra
to Sydney on the afternoon of July 3rd 2013. He is 30 years old, about 6 foot in
height with brown hair and brown eyes. A year ago he was weighing in around
100-110kg with a beard. You will see Tony here with and without his beard for
your reference. It is presumed that he is missing because he wants to be,
however we are still uncertain of the exact reasons or circumstances around his
disappearance. In any case, he is a registered missing person and his family
wants to know that he is safe and well.
Please contact the local Police or call 1800 333 000 if you see Tony.
UPDATE January 2014 - Anthony's (Tony's) family are very worried about him
as it has now been 6 months since he boarded a a bus in Canberra for Sydney.
Tony still hasn't used his bank account and the Missing Persons Unit have not
been able to find any trace of him. The family was very hopeful Tony would
contact them over Christmas as they said he loved
this time of year when all family gathered. If you see Tony please ask him to
contact his family they really need to know he's safe.
This is Tony Fahey and a message from his very
concerned family -
Tony has not been seen since boarding a bus from Canberra to Sydney on the 3rd
of July 2013. He is 29 years old, about 6 foot and was last seen with long hair
and an awesome beard. The picture of Tony with his long hair is the more recent
photo and Tony is most likely to still have a beard
and long hair.
Tony may be seeking help clinically, or taking some time out to find himself in
his own way ie missing voluntarily. Nevertheless, his family is worried and
would dearly like to hear from him. Tony hasn't touched his bank account so he
might be trying to live by means without the need for cash. If you see him, will
you please plead with him to contact his family. You can also e mail me and I
can contact his family immediately.
Please contact local Police or 1800 333 000 if you see Tony. Thank you so very
much for sharing this.
Missing Murrumbateman man Anthony Fahey, 30, 'a big loveable character'
By Tegan Osborne
Updated
When the family of Murrumbateman man Anthony Fahey last saw him over a year ago,
he was heading out of town to clear his head.
What happened next is a mystery.
Anthony, 30, was dropped off at a bus stop in Belconnen by an aunty on
Wednesday, July 3 last year.
He told his aunt he was heading to the Jolimont Centre in the city, and from
there he was going to either Melbourne or Sydney - whichever bus came first.
Since then, Anthony's bank, email and social media accounts have not been
touched and he has not contacted anyone.
It has been ordeal for his family, but they still hope Tony's story will have a
happy ending.
In 2013, nearly 12,000 people were reported missing in NSW, and while most of
them were located quickly, Tony Fahey is one of the 36 who remain missing.
As part of NSW Missing Person's Week, police have renewed calls for information
on Tony's whereabouts and are asking anyone who might have seen or heard from
him to contact Crime Stoppers.
A family Christmas comes and goes
Tony Fahey is one of seven children - the fifth child in a loving family from
Murrumbateman, about 40 kilometres north of Canberra.
His mum Eileen describes her son as "a big loveable character".
"Anthony just loved being at home, loved his family, and we really, really miss
him," she said.
Ms Fahey said her son was battling a problem with alcohol and was "trying to
find his place in the world", but not contacting his family for such a long
period of time was completely out of character.
Tony had been working on and off in the construction industry in Canberra and
Sydney, and had a "lovely girlfriend".
At the time of his disappearance, he had just returned from a week in Perth, and
was living at home in Murrumbateman with his parents while looking for work.
"My first thought was that he's taken himself away to sort himself out, go to a
rehabilitation place, and that as soon as he got his act together he'd be home,"
Ms Fahey said.
"So for the first 12 weeks, although we were frantic looking for him, searching
and putting up posters... I really felt at the end of the day he would just come
home - and he didn't."
Tony's family hoped that he would re-appear later that year at Christmas, which
a time that he loved.
"I think that's what made Christmas really difficult for all of us... It was a
drawcard for him and, of course, he didn't come home. It was devastating," Ms
Fahey said.
Late last year, Ms Fahey and her husband gave DNA, after an unidentified body
matching Tony's general description was found in northern NSW.
To their relief, it was not a match.
Tony failed to contact siblings in Sydney
Ms Fahey said early police inquiries confirmed Tony purchased a bus ticket to
Sydney at the Jolimont Centre and that the ticket was used.
Buses from Canberra to Sydney often go via the Sydney International Airport, but
Customs found no record of Tony using his passport there.
We love him dearly, we miss him, we want him to come home. For
whatever reason he's gone, it makes no difference to us. We just
want to know that he's safe.
Eileen Fahey, Anthony's mother
Ms Fahey said Tony had brothers and sisters in Sydney who he would normally have
visited if he were in town.
She held out hope that perhaps he was living on the street.
"When we travelled to Sydney to check out the homeless shelters... we got
talking to quite a number of people who were there who were homeless," she said.
"They did say to us that you can survive in Sydney or big cities without money
if you want to."
Inspector Rod Post from the NSW Police Hume LAC said Tony had not used any,
bank, social media or phone accounts since he left Canberra.
He said there had been no further confirmed sightings of Tony.
"To my knowledge the last known sighting was boarding that bus in Belconnen," he
said.
Mother to son: 'We love you, the door is always open'
Ms Fahey said every day before she got out of bed, she said a prayer that today
would be the day Tony contacted her.
"We're just a normal family, we didn't see this coming, and we just don't know
what to do," she said.
Ms Fahey said the message from herself, her husband and from all his brothers
and sisters, was "we just want to know you're okay".
"We love you, the door is always open and we just want to know that you're
alright.
"We love him dearly, we miss him, we want him to come home. For whatever reason
he's gone, it makes no difference to us. We just want to know that he's safe."
Police have urged anyone who might have seen or heard from Tony to contact Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the online reporting page.
'It’s a bit like this ripple in the ocean': Police turn to Facebook to help find
missing persons
The Australian Federal Police has launched the National Missing
Persons Coordination Centre Facebook page in an effort to help
families find, or learn the fate, of their missing loved ones.
UPDATED
BY DAVID SHARAZ - SBS
Missing
person cases will be given new profiles and families of loved ones
given a community to engage with each other, after Australian
Federal Police launched a dedicated
Facebook page for the National Missing Persons Coordination
Centre.
The latest
research suggests more than 38,000 people are reported missing each
year, and more than 2000 people across the country are classified as
“long-term missing persons”, meaning they’ve been missing for three
months or longer.
Eileen and
Neil Fahey – whose son Anthony went missing on 3 July 2013 after
buying a bus ticket to Sydney from Canberra – believe the official
Facebook page will be a valuable tool for getting the message out.
“Our story will be up on this Facebook page and people will be able to read it.
They’ll be able to see his photo, they’ll be able to pass it and share it,” Mrs
Fahey said.
Anthony was dropped off at the local bus interchange in Canberra by his aunt on
Wednesday, 3 July 2013, and the bus manifest shows he did board for Sydney.
Since then Anthony has not sent a single email, his social media activity is
non-existent, and the bank account in his name has not been touched.
“In the beginning you don’t really realise you’re going to be in this for the
long-term but I love all my children and I wanted to do something straight
away,” Anthony’s mother said.
After contacting family in Sydney and Brisbane for Anthony’s whereabouts, Eileen
and Neil Fahey called the police to file a missing persons report.
In an effort to locate their 30-year-old son, the Salvation Army’s tracing
service was used, posters were put up and a media campaign launched.
“We’ve been to Sydney and walked the streets, we’ve talked to the homeless,
we’ve been to hospitals, we’ve been to rehabilitation centres, we’ve been to
wherever we think we’d be able to find Anthony,” Mrs Fahey said.
Nothing has worked but the Fahey’s are hopeful that the official National
Missing Persons Facebok page will prove successful.
“It’s a bit like this ripple in the ocean that we don’t know how far and wide it
will go but we hope that somewhere on that journey that someone will see
Anthony’s profile and his story and contact Crime Stoppers,” Mrs Fahey said.
The Justice Minister said the Facebook page is not to replace but instead
compliment family forums such as Leave a Light On and the Missing Persons
Advocacy Network.
“The more we can publicise individual cases then greater is the chance that they
can get a better result to know about the fate of their loved one,” Minister
Michael Keenan said.
'I won't give up until I know' Murrumbateman mum holds hope for missing son
Each year at Christmas the Faheys gather around the kitchen table in their
Murrumbateman home surrounded by bushland.
As her six adult children, three grandchildren and extended family tuck
into the enormous feast, Eileen Fahey constantly glances out the front
window hoping to see her son Anthony walking up the driveway.
Anthony Fahey has been missing since 2013, when he boarded a bus at
the Jolimont Centre bound for Sydney and was never heard from again.
Christmas was Anthony's favourite time of year, Mrs Fahey said, he
loved being with his siblings eating prawns and pizzas on Christmas
Eve, sitting around the fire playing cards, darts and having a good
laugh.
"I thought he'd be gone for a few months, would get his head right
and I was dead set he would come walking down that driveway for
Christmas," Mrs Fahey said.
"I was so shocked when he didn't.
"But I'll always remain hopeful until I have a reason not to be."
Sunday marks the start of Missing Persons Week. The Australian
Federal Police has launched a video that explores the theme of hope
and the impact on a family left behind when a person goes missing.
In the short clip a father and daughter are left stranded by the
side of the
road because their old car has broken down, when the child
complains about the car the girl's father explains they are
holding onto it in case her missing sister ever spots it and
knows it's them.
AFP deputy commissioner Neil Gaughan said the video was
inspired by the real impacts on families holding onto the
hope of their loved one returning.
Mrs Fahey said the video struck a chord with her as she had
purposefully left aspects of the family home untouched in
case Anthony returned.
However Mrs Fahey and her husband Neil are now faced with the
difficult decision of wanting to downsize from their large home and
perhaps move to a warmer climate in their retirement but are worried
what would happen if their son ever returned to the home he knew.
"It's a balance and it's all wrapped up in emotion," Mrs Fahey said.
"It's hard to make a clear decision with your head when you're so
used to making these decisions with your heart."
She also has concerns she may lose her memories of Anthony that are
so deeply connected to the family home.
"I can picture Anthony sitting on the end of the kitchen bench and
he'd come up with some harebrained scheme," she said.
"Will I lose those when we're away from here?"
But Mrs Fahey said she also understands the importance of moving
forward with life and taking care of herself and her family.
"I still have six kids and three grandkids, I still have to be there
for them as the
For the 30th year of National Missing Persons Week the AFP
is profiling 30 long time missing persons, deputy
commissioner Gaughan said.
“If you recognise any of the missing people profiled this
week, or indeed any of the 2600 long-term missing persons on
the public
register, please
contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000,” he said.
“You might just have a piece of information that could help bring
them home.”
With Anthony's case now suspended from an active search by the
police Mrs Fahey said the family needed the "community to be our
eyes and ears".
She said if Anthony didn't want to be with the family or wanted to
live a different life she was ok with that, but if she could get one
message to her son it would be a simple one.
"We love you. We miss you. We just want to know that you're ok.
Please contact us."
