Contributors: Daughters Carrie 32 and Lauren 23
Missing Mum Sandra Gant (48) went missing from Clacton on Sea,
When Sandra’s 20 year marriage ended she sank into depression and ill health, often self medicating with drink to deal with her issues. Knowing how vulnerable she was the children always stayed in touch with their Mum, visiting her regularly to make sure she was OK. Gradually they started to rebuild their relationship with their mum, and, over 5 years it became apparent how vulnerable she was.
On the Saturday night when Sandra vanished, she and two friends went for a drink. It’s believed Sandra left by herself that evening, but she has never been seen again.
Five days later Carrie alerted police. Carrie and Sandra had arranged to meet up on the Thursday, but Sandra never turned up. After contacting other family members Carrie realised it had been days since anyone had heard from her Mum. The next day Carrie contacted her Mum's landlord and together they went round to her Mum's flat and found everything switched on, but with no sign of life.
Police later found a small amount of Sandra’s blood at the property Sandra had visited with her friends on the Saturday night. But Sandra has not been seen or heard of since.
Carrie (32) is the oldest of the three sisters, she says they have done so much to try and find out what happened to their Mum. “We’ve put up thousands of posters and have been out and about locally knocking on doors. We’ve done press interviews but still nothing.” She says her family have found coping with their Mum’s disappearance a huge struggle. “We can’t deal with it. How can someone just go missing without a trace?"
Lauren (23) is the youngest of the children and was incredibly close to her Mum. She has been very pro-active in appealing for information on what could have happened to her Mum. She says, “Sometimes I think Mum is still alive. After all, no body has ever been found. But when the police found traces of Mum’s blood at that flat you have to realise it doesn’t look hopeful.” She says it’s important the family get answers, “Someone knows what has happened and I want to break the wall of silence. So as a family we can move on with our lives.”
