THE sheer length of time the family and friends of missing Manic Street Preacher Richey Edwards have suffered gives us all cause to pause and think.

The Blackwood man went missing 20 years ago – and for his sister Rachel Elias, that does not mean simply marking anniversaries such as yesterday’s.

Every day, she told the Argus, brings its own fresh loss.

“I experience the same thing every day, not just on February 1. It is trying to get used to the loss,” she said.

“When I look back and think it’s 20 years, it’s quite astonishing.”

Mrs Elias said her brother “didn’t have strops and not fulfil his responsibilities. (Before he went missing) he was in contact with mum and dad. If he was at home he would visit every day. As time went on it was even more out of character.”

The uncertainty is agony. Most of us cannot imagine living with it, living with all those questions without answers.

Of course, the case is very much in the public eye because of his fame, because of the continued fame of his bandmates, and their body of work.

To his family and those who care about him, Mr Edwards isn’t just a musician and lyricist. He is a brother, son and friend.

Setting aside the lure of speculation about the mystery of “the missing rock star,” let’s not forget that for families up and down this country like Mrs Elias’, living with this kind of uncertainty is daily life.

Those cases don’t attract as many media headlines because the missing person is a call centre worker, a builder, a nurse, or a teacher, rather than a member of one of the world’s best-known bands.

However here in Gwent, we are all too aware of the agony of the family of James Nutley of Caldicot, now missing for a decade after disappearing on a golfing holiday in Tenby.

Charity Missing People’s website also reports on the case of Peter Boxell, whose son Lee from Sutton has been missing since 1988.

The Home Office says 250,000 people go missing every year.

An estimated 140,000 young people under 18 years of age go missing each year.

In 2010-11, 91 per cent of missing people incidents reported to the police were closed within 48 hours, 99 per cent of cases solved within a year.

The length of time Mrs Elias, Mr Nutley’s family and the Boxell’s have endured could make us feel helpless. What can anyone of us do to help in the face of that?

One small thing we can do is support the work of the charity Missing People, which Mrs Elias has promoted.

It supports families, runs a helpline on 116 000, gives an ear to those who need it, and provides a resource for those who are missing and may want to get in touch with loved ones.

It might seem a very small gesture but the support this charity provides is a lifeline at a terrible time. Let’s do what we can.

To find out how you can help go tomissingpeople.org.uk/get-involved/support-us.html.