It has now been more than 46 years since 12-year-old Maryborough boy Terry Floyd was last seen alive.
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A coroner determined in 2001 that Terry was murdered, but his body has not been found and no one has been charged in relation to his disappearance.
For many years, Terry's family have fought to find answers and hope they can continue to raise awareness around the rising number of missing Australians along with educating the community on the hardships placed on family members.
This week marks, National Missing Persons Week and Terry's brother Daryl Floyd said it was an important week for all family members and friends of missing Australians.
"For me, this week is about raising awareness of so many missing Australians and especially in Victoria," he said.
"The numbers of long-term missing people are increasing each year but it's around two per cent of long term missing and they are the ones that unfortunately don't really make it home."
"I think it's important to raise awareness for missing persons but also the heartache families do encounter in a day-to-day basis."
More than 100 Australians are reported missing every day.
Of these, between two to five per cent become long-term missing and research shows at least 12 of their loved ones are directly affected by their disappearance.
The rate of Australians being reported missing increased by more than 25 per cent in the past year, which saw many affected by lockdown and restrictions as a result of COVID-19.
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Mr Floyd said more needed to be done to provide assistance to families affected.
"There needs to be more done for missing persons and unfortunately families are the ones that carry the burden of finding answers and they always live in hope," he said.
"It doesn't seem to be enough to help families, they always want answers and I believe a lot more could be done to help and support them."
Seeing that support was few and far between, Mr Floyd said he ended up creating a support group more than 10 years ago for family members of missing loved ones.
With family members, we never give up hope and that's something that family members do hold onto and that hope is about finding answers.
- Daryl Floyd
"I reached out to family members of murdered or missing loved ones and that stretches up to far north Queensland, NSW, Victoria," he said.
"We stay in contact about one a week to we are on our own group chat that we do and we reach out to each other and help and support where we can.
"Again because there is not enough being done for families, we had to start our own support group and we are more than willing to have more people join and support us."
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Mr Floyd said there were about 14 different family units part of the group.
"It's so important to have this support because what you endure and go through on a day-to-day basis is very hard to explain," he said.
"No one wants to be apart of this group but we understand each other's pain and torture and it does help for that reason.
"With family members, we never give up hope and that's something that family members do hold onto and that hope is about finding answers."
More than 40,000 people are reported missing in Australia each year. While most are found within a week, more than 400 people annually become long-term missing persons.
If you have any information on missing persons, please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000
Support for families and friends can be found here: missingpersons.gov.au/support/support-services
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