Pamela Delaney holds out a "very, very distant hope" that her son, Greg, is alive after being missing for 14 years.

"I do sometimes think that he's dead, and sometimes I just wish that they would find a body so we can bury him and put an end to it," Mrs Delaney said.

"But, then in the back of your mind and in the back of your heart, you're hoping he's still alive."

Greg, an apprentice chef in Queensland, had travelled back to his parents' home in Geelong in July 1989. But after an argument with his father - who died recently - he became agitated and left at 4am on July 12, with $40 in his wallet, an ATM card and his driver's licence.

"We just thought he was going to walk around the block," Mrs Delaney said. "But he never ever came back."
 

His family have not heard from him since.

"My message is that we all love him dearly," Mrs Delaney said. "Myself, my three sons, his nan, all his family . . . we'd just love him to come home."

More than 30,000 people go missing in Australia every year. On average, someone is reported missing every 18 minutes. In Victoria, just under 6500 were reported missing last year, with more than 40 per cent aged 17 and under.

The good news is that the vast majority of those people are found and reunited with family and friends, said Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner (Crime) Simon Overland.

"For a small percentage of people, they remain missing for a long period of time," Mr Overland said. "This, of course, causes a great deal of distress to their loved ones and their family members."

In launching National Missing Persons Week yesterday, police were encouraging people who have lost contact with their families to renew it. "The unexplained disappearance of a relative, friend or loved one has a devastating impact on the lives of thousands of Victorians every year," Mr Overland said.

Some people chose to stay missing. "We respect people's privacy; going missing is not a crime," he said. "All we ask is that people make a call and ease some of the strain for the family and friends of the missing person."

A Salvation Army spokeswoman had this advice: "If you are out of touch with your family, send a card, make a phone call and make the folks at home feel a bit easier."