The family of a man who disappeared nine years ago have put up a £10,000 reward for information on what happened to him.
Simon Hodgson-Greaves mysteriously vanished days before Christmas in 2013.
A keen birdwatcher, his empty camper van was found by a member of the RSPB team at Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington.
And despite extensive searches and appeals, no trace of Simon has ever been found.
The 48-year-old, from Riccall, was last seen by a member of his family on 15 December, and visited Bempton Cliffs on 21 December.
His sister Rachel Pickthall told YorkMix Radio that not knowing after all this time was hard to bear.
“It’s a horrible, horrible situation. And it’s got a defined term – it’s known as ambiguous loss,” she said.
“It’s hard to know what to do because we continuously speculate about what might have happened. But we literally have no evidence of anything at all.
“The police, and the missing people charity who got involved immediately, go for four options as to what might have happened to Simon.
“Number one, he might have gone out for a walk and had an accident. Number two, he might have jumped off the cliffs purposefully.
“Number three, he might have just decided to go off grid and live somewhere else without wanting anybody knowing where he is.
“And finally, he could have been a victim of a crime.
“But unfortunately, there’s just absolutely no evidence to point in any direction. So we waited for a while in the hope that Simon would just suddenly turn up. And that didn’t happen.”
Only option left
Having tried everything else, they hope the £10,000 reward might finally lead to information on what happened to Simon.
“It’s the only option I think that’s left open to us to try and prompt some information to come forward, somehow, some way, that might give us some answers,” Rachel said.
Neither the police nor the team at the RSPB think that Simon took his own life. The police consider it an open case.
“It’s impossible that Simon just disappeared without a trace. And my concern is, if he was the victim of a crime, that there’s a perpetrator out there who isn’t being held accountable for it.
“So yes, we’ve got to assume that somebody does know something.”
It becomes harder as the years go by, Rachel said. “We’re all getting older, not in the least my mum who’s 82 now.
“And it’s awful. It’s a cloud that hangs over us constantly, especially at this time of year when it comes up to Christmas because obviously that’s the anniversary of when he disappeared and also it’s a very family time.”
If you can help, contact North Yorkshire Police on 101 quoting reference 12130220462.
The £10,000 reward is for information leading to Simon being found. The family accept that he might not be found alive.
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