CHRISTMAS is always a time when we think of family and loved ones. For many families though, the recent festive period would have been particularly sad with in absence of a loved one.

It’s estimated that 150 people go missing every week. Two-thirds of all missing people are children or young people. Most return unharmed after a short period of time but for many this is sadly not the case.

Often the families who are left behind are forgotten when cases of missing people become news. Luckily, there are charities there to help the families of the missing. Organisations like ‘Missing People’ do great work in this field. They have trained volunteers and staff and anyone needing support from them can call free phone 116 000.

There’s no one reason that leads to people going missing. We have sadly had a number of high profile cases, usually young people, going missing in Gwent in recent years. And we’ve been served well by the South Wales Argus who have supported families and the police in raising public awareness and assisting appeals for help.

One of those cases relates to a young man who went missing from my own community in Newbridge, a young man named Kyle Vaughan.

I knew Kyle. He was one of the dozen or so young people who, over the years, filed into my home laughing and joking and eager to join us for celebrations.

He was one of a close friendship group that endlessly entertained each other with their amateur attempts at ‘Sing Star’ followed by keenly contested ‘Just Dance’ challenges. He was a pleasant young man who was always polite.

During the Christmas period the family of Kyle Vaughan held a walk in his memory and to re-appeal to the public for any information. He was last seen on the 30th of December 2012, his car having been involved in a collision and was later found on the A467 between Risca and Crosskeys.

The tragedy of his disappearance could happen to any family and if it did, we would be just as desperate as Kyle’s family for any information.

Readers will know that his disappearance quickly became a murder investigation although his body has not been found and Kyle’s family continue to make appeals for information. There’s a £5000 reward available and anyone with any information should contact Crime Stoppers on 0800 555111.