Contributors: Daughters Amy (23) and Melissa (16). Partner Chris (30)A car crash in March 2008 changed 46 year old care worker Janet Cowley’s life.
As Janet and her partner Chris, then 28, drove through snow over the North Yorkshire Moors, a 4x4 smashed into them head on. Chris escaped with broken ribs but Janet had fractured her back in three places and needed surgery at two hospitals in the North East.
After being discharged from hospital, Janet was determined to return to work. However, the rods which surgeon’s had inserted to support her spine had reduced her mobility and she lived in great pain. She tried to return to work, but reality soon hit as Janet quit after three days due to the agony she was enduring.
The family bought her a car to encourage her to regain her independence, but the pain continued to distress her. She was prescribed anti depressants as she became withdrawn. Then, one lunchtime in July, Chris found her motionless in bed. Janet had taken an overdose and was rushed to hospital.
As part of her convalescence, Janet agreed to spend some time as a voluntary patient at a mental health hospital in Scarborough - her family went to visit her there regularly. Then, two months later, she walked out of the hospital, wearing no coat, and disappeared into the night. A three day air, sea and land search could find no trace of her or where she could have gone. Whitby Police continue to treat Missing Mum Janet’s disappearance as an open missing person’s case.
Her daughter, Amy, who has just finished a Business Studies degree at Teesside University
Amy (23) was the last member of the family to see her Mum. She, Chris and Melissa had spent the afternoon with Janet. They had taken her for a walk near Scarborough Castle and then for a drink at a seafront pub. When they delivered Janet back to the hospital Amy spent a few minutes alone with her Mum. But, just minutes after the family had left to return home to Whitby, Janet slipped out of the hospital unnoticed - never to return.
"I go through phases of thinking she's run away and I go through phases of thinking she's not with us anymore, and I just hope that, whatever happened that night, that she's happy and at peace."
Melissa (16) holds out hope for news of her missing Mum. "In my head half of it thinks she's not here any more, but the other half thinks that she is, so I don't know."
Chris (30) had been with Janet for almost 7 years before she went missing. Although a self-professed rational thinker he doesn’t know what to believe. He hopes Janet will turn up safe and well but worries that he, Amy and Melissa may never know what happened to Janet.
