WHILE this month will mark 14 years since Ryan Chambers mysteriously disappeared in India, his parents Jock and Di Chambers will never completely give up hope of finding their lost son.
Conceding it would take a miracle, his parents are clinging onto hope that perhaps one day he may be found alive.
This missing persons cold case has been thrown into the national spotlight with the unveiling of a mural as part of an Australian art project “The Unmissables”.
Ryan’s face now blankets a wall of Barnett’s general store in the small Riverland town of Cadell.
With a beaming smile and a youthful glow, Ryan’s picture captures the attention of motorists driving by.
While the sprawling art canvass is a long way from India, it shines the light on the issue of Australians who have been missing long term.
Ryan – one of more than 1600 Australians who remain missing in the long term – vanished without a trace while holidaying in India.
If Ryan was alive today, he would be aged 35.
While there has been extensive searches and even false sightings, there have been no remnants of evidence to suggest what happened to Ryan.
An emotional roller-coaster of heartache and exhaustive searches, Jock says he hopes his son’s story will help raise the issue of missing persons across Australia.
“The mural was brilliant, I did not know what to expect. I did not know whether it would be abstract or someone you could not identify, ” Mr Chambers told The Border Watch yesterday.
“We came around the corner and we thought ‘that’s certainly him’ – it is keeping his memory alive.”
Incredibly, he said the artist Joel Van Moore painted the mural by using spray cans in just three days.
“As the store owner says, if it encourages someone who is missing to ring home, that is important. There are so many people missing.”
With Missing Persons Week held this month, he revealed his family had received significant support from the community since Ryan’s disappearance and he wanted his family’s story to help others.
“I will never lose hope – nobody knows either way,” Mr Chambers said.
“The only thing we found was all his gear he left behind. His friend John Booker (who was with Ryan in India) has no idea what happened.”
While his precious son was always in the back of his mind, Mr Chambers said his family at least had some hope.
“There are other parents who do not have any hope,” Mr Chambers said.
While the search had now come to an end, he said it was now a matter of wait and see what unfolded.
“The Indian Government lost Ryan’s file around two years ago. They still say they are conducting searches and putting up missing persons posts, they are not,” Mr Chambers said.
“When we were there during our final trip – eight years ago when the documentary was being made – a police officer at a train station put Ryan’s flyer straight over the top of another missing person’s flyer.”
The trip was never about the documentary, but an attempt to find Ryan.
While there were no concrete clues, he said one possibility canvassed was that Ryan fell into The Ganges.
The Ganges was searched on three occasions.
He said the family endured grief at different levels with the hardest period being the first 12 months.
The family has used exhaustive avenues to try and find their son.
These include using Australian authorities, a private investigator, Rotary International, Coca Cola India, State Bank of India and many friends.
Facebook has also been used extensively and this medium has resulted in two unconfirmed “sightings.”
Psychics have also offered advice but no results have been forthcoming.
According to the events that unfolded, Ryan and John attended some yoga sessions at the Ashram and were enjoying the charm of Rishikesh for a few days.
On the evening of August 23, 2005, Ryan rang home to Australia and said he was ready to come home as he had seen everything he wanted.
John offered to help him book flights at the travel agency but it seems Ryan had changed his mind by then.
He was restless that night and early the next morning he left the Ashram when the security gate was opened.
Ryan was wearing only shorts. Ryan left his belongings, cash, phone, passport and he has not been heard from since.
The Unmissables is an initiative of the not-for-profit Missing Persons Advocacy Network and can seen on ABC iView.
