The final chapter

3rd April 2008
Today marks the anniversary of my daughter's disappearance after being groomed on the internet,exactly one year since I saw my beautiful,loving daughter.My emotions are still raw and today is far from easy so please forgive me if I repeat myself or go over old ground.Unless by some miracle I am reunited with my daughter this will be the final chapter of this blog,it appears that no-one in authority cares if she is dead or alive.
I remember this date last year vividly,S had been groomed for several months by this time and despite dozens of requests for help no-one cared about what was happening,no-one in authority that is.Friends and family were terrified by what was happening as were her school but people you turn to in times of need couldn't care less.It was blatantly obvious by February that S was being controlled by the 'bf' of course she couldn't see it,her brother kept telling her he was a paedophile but she wouldn't listen, the 'bf' had full control of her once vibrant personality.Each time I removed one of the secret mobile phones that he had supplied another one would appear as if by magic.The 'bf's' previous victim has since told us that the phones she was given were used for sex talk.Friends had been threatened and verbally abused by him,one poor family were accused of being drug dealers,one girl had to be escorted to the school bus each day after receiving death threats,one family were accused of maltreating their dog and were subsequently investigated by the RSPCA (not that they ever had a dog!!!!!)
What the 'bf' did to us was much worse,apart from the obvious of luring our daughter away from us,taking her away from the safety of her own home and messing with her mind,the accusations that he made will haunt me for the rest of my life.He repeatedly made accusations to the Police,Social services,and even spent weeks sending fax messages to her school,one weekend he called 999 every 10 minutes,the Police soon decided he was a raving nutter!My son was accused of breaking S's arm ,although she had never suffered a broken arm,the police still questioned him about it.My husband escaped relatively unscathed but then he was never close to S,it was me who bore the brunt of his ranting and raving,probably because S and I had always been so close and he had to try so hard to break the bond between us.
The 'bf' accused me of smashing my daughters skull against a brick wall and of holding her down and slashing her wrists,it would be funny if it wasn't so serious.She did have self harm injuries to her wrist,witnessed by a PC who we had asked to see her strange behaviour one day,she was also seen headbutting her bedroom wall by the same pc.The following day she reported to a doctor in Bristol the 'bf' telling the doctor that the injuries were a direct result of being assaulted by her abusive alcoholic mother!!In between October and December 2007 the 'bf' started a vendetta of internet allegations about me,pages and pages of accusations that S had been the victim of child abuse since the age of 12,these allegations were incredibly hurtful and pushed me to the very brink of suicide.
S and I had always been incredibly close,so much so that other people were jealous of how well we got on as mother and daughter.Of course our life wasn't perfect,who's is but we understood each other so well.I look back now on fond memories of the days we had together,the girly times cuddled on the sofa watching Eastenders and sharing pringles,or the baking days when we would take over the kitchen,spending the whole day experimenting with cake recipes,more flour in our hair than in the cakes.S loved animals especially her beloved rabbits,I still have video footage of her appearance on Pet rescue and dozens of photos of her cuddling her favourite furballs.How the 'bf' ever persuaded her to leave her little baby bunny will always puzzle me,she was worried sick when we went away for a week and entrusted her care with neighbours.Of course that poor bunny pined for her when she left,sat each day looking for her,those sad eyes not understanding why she wouldn't come home.
The house is very different now,a pet free zone,none of S's pot plants scattered around,no more sound of the rock tumbler churning away in the shed,no more girly laundry in the machine,no more giggly sleepovers in the garden.In the last year I have seen my son change from a carefree devilish little kid to a strapping young man deeply moved by the course of events,worried about things that 14 year olds shouldn't even understand.
What happened to S the day she disappeared we may never know,we do have proof that she went to Bristol,something that the 'bf' still denies,she wasn't seen for over 6 months and has only been seen by the authorities on 2 occasions since.During the time she was missing we worked tirelessly with the media,both in asking for help to locate her and warning other families of the dangers of sexual grooming.Most media work we were prepared for but waking up to see our daughter projected onto Marble Arch was a huge shock,the charity missing people had forgotten to mention it to us!
We attended regular meetings with the police going over the same information again and again,desperately looking for clues,I spent hours and hours on the internet searching for some idea as to where she was.Of course although he has denied it we now know for a fact that the 'bf' and his dad knew exactly where she was all the way along,the dad even kept press cuttings about her on the back seat of his car,bizzare to say the least!The 'bf' has ruined not just our lives but also S's future,today I can safely say that I don't know if she is dead or alive,I hold him personally responsible if anything happens to her.As her friends prepare to sit their GCSE's and look to the future S is left to live a life of crime and grime with the 'bf' and hid dad.
Despite countless attempts to cause trouble for us,the police know that the allegations against me were a pack of lies,they didn't believe them for a minute.The public of course don't know the full facts,I still find it incredibly difficult to go out in our sleepy town without people questioning what happened,I'm sick to death of people saying there's no smoke without fire or that if there was nothing wrong at home she would have come home by now.Of course people round here think grooming is something you do to your hair,and the three P's don't exist (that's pimping paedophile and prostitution for those of you innocent enough not to know)
I will never understand how the 'bf' had so much control over S,although I have now seen evidence of him doing this sort of thing before so I suppose he has become an expert at it.I still love my daughter,but I love the carefree girl I once knew,the happy,polite and loving girl that I was so proud of.Whether or not I ever see her again is debatable,the door is still open.....just,but as each day passes we grow further apart,our lives move in opposite directions.
The effect that sexual grooming and missing children has on the close family is obvious,not many people realise just how far and wide the trauma travels,grandparents,aunts,uncles,cousins,neighbours,school friends teachers,the list goes on.It is too late to save S from the damage this man has caused but the fight to protect others must go on,one day the government will sit up and take notice,let's just hope that day comes sooner rather than later

A huge thanks to Thames Valley Police and the fantastic Sarah at CROP for their support over the last year,I wouldn't be here without you guys.