29th July 2017
There were fourteen people at our meeting last night.
Fourteen.
I still find that difficult to believe.
We've decided to give the group a name: the Missing Families Group.
It's nothing official. We don't have an office or a committee or anything like that.
We have a borrowed community room, a shared email address and a lot of people who want answers.
A few of those attending don't have missing relatives. They just want to help.
One gentleman used to work with historical records. He's offered to help us find old planning documents.
Another woman has experience organising community events and has offered to coordinate meetings.
It's strange how things develop.
Two years ago I wrote a blog post because I didn't know what else to do.
Now there are people I've never met before giving up their evenings to help find Josh and the others.
We agreed on some basic rules.
Nobody publishes personal information without permission. Nobody makes accusations without evidence. And anything potentially important goes to the police.
There was a bit of disagreement about that last one.
Some people don't believe the authorities are taking us seriously.
I understand why they're frustrated, but I don't want this turning into something reckless.
We're families, not detectives.
Afterwards we stayed behind and talked.
For once, it wasn't all about the investigation.
We talked about jobs, children, football and the price of everything.
I laughed properly for the first time in ages.
Then I felt guilty.
Sarah told me not to.
I think she's becoming a very good friend.
