Families of missing people 'feel forgotten'

A man who has been searching for his missing brother for decades has found support from a group of Australians with more than 460 cumulative years of grief and pain.

Daryl Floyd has been seeking closure since his brother Terry vanished from Victoria's Central Highlands in 1975 when he was just 12 years old.

Terry's body has never been found and a coroner determined the schoolboy had been murdered in 2001 - but this has brought Floyd and his family no closure.

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As the years passed, and no major developments were made in the case, Floyd sought support from those who have endured the same pain and feeling of hopelessness.

He founded a group for families of missing people, which now involves 14 families and spans across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

The network has "kept many going" as hope fades and leads go cold. Floyd hopes to educate others on the hardships faced by families of missing people.

"Some families haven't had contact in seven years and families are dealing with lots of heartache and trauma," he said.

"Without that empathy and passion, many family members feel forgotten about."

Lyn Butterworth has been fighting for decades to get answers about the disappearance of her sister Maureen Braddy and partner Allan White.

The couple vanished from Bendigo in 1968 and family members strongly believe they fell victim to foul play.

Butterworth told 9News.com.au the family suspects their bodies were buried under a well at their former family home, where a brick extension has now been built.

She is a member of Floyd's group and said while the support does not take away the pain of the loss, it brings her some solace.

"It's good to be able to get together with people who are dealing with similar circumstances," she said.

"We are always checking up on each other which is really great."

"Without that group things wouldn't be the same, it gives you a pick up and keeps you pushing forward."

"It's nice to have that, you need to someone to keep you forward sometimes."

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Fresh push for cold missing persons cases

Missing Persons Week began on Monday and aims to remind the public of those who have disappeared.

Just a scrap of information could lead to families being given closure or investigations reigniting and police are urging people with information to come forward.

Police receive more than 38,000 missing persons reports each year in Australia.

Most people are found within a short period of time, but about 2600 have remained missing long term.

There were 53,000 people reported missing nationally last year.

That's an average of 145 people a day.

This is an increase of more than 30 per cent in the last three years.