AS JULY 29 gets closer, the Dodd family pray it won’t bring another anniversary without knowing the whereabouts of their daughter Hayley.
Still struggling with the nightmare they were thrown into almost 16 years ago, mother Margaret Dodd is clinging to hope that her daughter will be found.
“Our emotions start to get high around at the end of June,” she said.
“Every year we think: ‘Let us not have another anniversary without knowing’.
“If she’s not found this year, it will be 16 years since she went missing.
“It will be an anniversary we’d rather not have.”
The Mandurah girl, then 17 years old, was last seen walking along North West Road in 1999.
Before Hayley disappeared, she had walked from Dongara and intended to stay at a friend's farm about 20 kilometres from Badgingarra.
She never reached her destination.
Police issued a warrant for the arrest of 59-year-old Francis John Wark in May over the alleged wilful murder of Hayley.
In June, Western Australian Attorney-General Michael Mischin officially requested Wark’s prison transfer from a Queensland jail, where he is currently serving a 12-year sentence.
Hayley’s remains are still yet to be found.
Speaking at this year’s Missing Persons Memorial Day on August 7, Mrs Dodd said her family is still suffering.
She said she still wakes up and asks herself what she can do to help find Hayley.
“It’s like you were dreaming and then you wake up and it’s actually a nightmare,” Mrs Dodd said.
“People tell me I’m strong but I’m not.
“I don’t feel strong at all.
“There’s days that I just breakdown and cry.
“What we’ve done is learn to live a different life.
“All I ask is that we find Hayley’s remains before I die so it doesn’t pass down to our children.”
Missing Persons Week is held during the first week of August every year.
It aims to raise awareness of the significant issues associated with missing persons, and to reduce the incidence and impact of missing persons in Australia.
The Mandurah memorial service will be held at the Zonta Missing Persons Memorial in Administration Park on Mandurah Terrace.
Members of public can lay flowers and morning tea will be served following the service in the City of Mandurah’s Tuckey Room.
Call Zonta Club of Peel’s Margaret Wyatt on 0417 998 706 for catering purposes.
