UK UK - Robert Williams, 15, Neath, Wales, 22 Mar 2002 *arrest*

[Al Ka]

Robert Williams

• Age at disappearance: 15
• Missing Since: 22-Mar-2002
• Missing from: Resolven, NEATH Valley, West Glamorgan, South Wales
  
• Reference No: 02-000551
  
  His profile on Missing People org - Help us find Robert Williams

Robert went missing from his home in Resolven, Wales on Thursday March 28 (different date?) 2002 when he was fifteen.

Robert lived with his mother and younger brother in a cul-de-sac in Resolven. His father died when he was young. His mother, Cheryl Davies said

“When he was younger he was always into mischief, the house was never quiet. When he left he had a lot of problems, he changed from a happy boy to a sad young man.”

He walked out following an argument. According to his mother:

The last day I saw Robert was in the morning. We’d had a row, he walked out of the door, I watched him going and I thought, ‘He’ll be back.’ I never saw him after that day.

An old school friend saw him that weekend in Skewen, eight miles away and apparently Robert said that he would return home soon but did not. There were several unconfirmed sightings of him in South Wales in the three months following his disappearance.

 

[Al Ka]

23 December, 2002
Festive appeal for vanished relatives

A mother whose teenage son has been missing for nine months has appealed for him to be in touch for Christmas.

Cheryl Davies is heartbroken she has not heard from her boy, Robert Williams, since he walked out of the family home in Resolven, near Neath, in March this year.

Robert, who is 5ft 4ins tall, slim, with mousey blond hair, is still believed to be living in south Wales as it is thought he was spotted a couple of times in the three months following his disappearance.

BBC NEWS | UK | Wales | Festive appeal for vanished relatives

 

[Al Ka]

8 JAN 2009
Resolven mum’s appeal to missing son

A DISTRAUGHT mum whose son went missing almost seven years ago has made an emotional new year appeal for his return.
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That weekend he was seen in Skewen by an old school friend and said he would soon go home – but he did not return and hasn’t been seen since.

It was rumoured he might have run away with a travelling fair, although there has been no news since and his whereabouts remain a mystery.
---
She said: “The last day I saw Robert was in the morning. We’d had a row, he walked out of the door, I watched him going and I thought ‘He’ll be back’.

“But he never was. I never saw him after that day. When he was younger he was always into mischief, the house was never quiet. When he left he had a lot of problems, he changed from a happy boy to a sad young man.”

Resolven mum’s appeal to missing son

 

[Al Ka]

3 May 2011
Missing Robert Williams feared dead after nine years

South Wales Police have "concluded" their inquiries into the disappearance of a teenager last seen by his family nine years ago.
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A review of his case has been carried out by police over the last 12 months but no new leads have been found.

One officer said the "most likely outcome" is that Mr Williams "died sometime over the past nine years". Det Insp Mark Lewis, of the South Wales Police Specialist Crime Investigation Team, said Mr Williams' mother, Cheryl, is "naturally devastated by this news".

He said: "Over the past year we have revisited all potential lines of enquiry, over 100 further witness statements have been taken and we have also carried out extensive proof of life enquiries which have all proved negative.

"In addition we have searched the national fingerprint and DNA databases, checking medical records and contacting a large number of organisations in the hope that Robert may have been linked to them since his disappearance.

Missing teenager probe concludes

 

[Al Ka]

15 MAY 2011

Robert’s father died when he was young and Cheryl’s younger son, Carl, who is now 20, has been her saving grace.

“He’s my rock,” she said.

“Carl was 11 or 12 when Robert left, it obviously hit him hard and was difficult to explain but I protected him from what I was going through. I refused to show him how hurt I was.

“Robert loved his brother and Carl remains affected by it today, but we have a wonderful close relationship, he’s just taking his exams for university and I could not be prouder of him.”

I understand McCann’s torment, says Robert Williams’ mother

 

[Al Ka]

26 MAR 2018
Desperate mum still hunting for teen who vanished without trace 16-years-ago

The 48-year-old, from Resolven , in the Neath Valley, has had to face unimaginable anguish every day ever since her son, 15-year-old Robert Williams, walked out the door 16 years ago, never to be seen or heard from again.

In July 2010 police tried to help by issuing a picture of how Robert would look aged 23.

This month marks the 16th anniversary of his disappearance and although the police closed the investigation into his disappearance in 2011, his mother, quite naturally, finds it difficult to draw a line under her hopes.
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Now she is hoping that social media may help find her some answers, having posted an appeal on the Missing People website’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Having posted on the website’s Facebook page a few days ago, the appeal has already had nearly 2,000 shares and 100 comments of support.

She said: “I was going to do it last year on his 30th birthday but when he turned 30 something changed and I realised that he is no longer a child anymore, he’s a man.

“It hit me for six. I was unable to got through any publicity.
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“Hopefully Robert is out there; my family believe he’s out there somewhere.
“Hopefully we will hear something but, if not, we will try again.
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“Robert used to love fishing and so I go and sit next to the river, where he used to go, and write.”
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A review of his case was carried out by police over the 12 months leading up to the decision, but no new leads were found.

One officer said the “most likely outcome” is that Mr Williams “died sometime over the past nine years”.

Desperate mum still hunting for teen who vanished without trace 16-years-ago

 

[Al Ka]

This month has been 17 years since Rob's disappearance and since his mum last saw him.

 

[MarziPanda]

Sadly I would agree with the police's conclusion that he is deceased. There was the one sighting that weekend and then the sightings over the next three months were unconfirmed. And then nothing since those three months. He sounds like he might have been troubled - suicide is a possibility, perhaps in a way where he was not found such as going into the sea or a deep river. It's also possible someone took advantage of him and he was murdered and has not been found. Or he somehow made himself a new identity and passed away in an accident or through illness, but I think that unlikely considering his age and because it's hard to make a new identity just like that. And of course, the possibility that he's still alive and doesn't feel like he can go back home. But I find that unlikely, too.

 

[melodyl]

I hate it, but I have to agree. He's a grown man now. What a 15 year old would think to be reasons for not returning would no longer be thoughts of an adult. He would be wanting to show his mom how his life has turned out, maybe gotten married & had children of his own. He'd want to contact his brother. None of that has happened. I hate to be the pessimist, & I pray that I'm wrong, but I don't have any good feelings about this one. I only hope they find his remains one day so this mom and brother can lay him and their worries to rest.

 

[Mrs Marple]

It's possible he committed suicide but l find it a little odd that he said he would be returning home soon.

 

[melodyl]

It's possible he committed suicide but l find it a little odd that he said he would be returning home soon.

I agree. Unless he got it into his 15 year old brain that he couldn't go home because he'd be "in so much trouble", and then didn't have anywhere else he could go. I just don't know. I find it odd that he just disappeared 3 months after he had left and after saying he was going to go home. A sudden disappearance like that would point to being deceased, either accidentally or intentionally.

 

[JSolt1210]

[*]Missing Since: 22-Mar-2002
[*]
His profile on Missing People org - Help us find Robert Williams
[/LIST]

Robert went missing from his home in Resolven, Wales on Thursday March 28 (different date?) 2002 when he was fifteen...

He walked out following an argument. According to his mother:

The last day I saw Robert was in the morning. We’d had a row, he walked out of the door, I watched him going and I thought, ‘He’ll be back.’ I never saw him after that day.

An old school friend saw him that weekend in Skewen, eight miles away and apparently Robert said that he would return home soon but did not...

I find the difference in dates a little strange too. The official online record (cited above) has Friday, March 22, 2002, but most online articles say Thursday, March 28, 2002.

Both dates immediately precede weekends, as Good Friday in 2002 fell on March 29, so there would've been no school. That would validate the friend's sighting "that weekend," whichever one it was.

So when he left "in the morning," was the mom expecting him to be headed to school since it was a school day? Did he actually attend? Where did he stay in between leaving home and being sighted by the friend a day or two later?

 

[martin123]

So he was seen by a friend eight miles away. Was this properly looked into, did the police question people in the area to see if they'd seen him and he must of been staying somewhere, he must of been staying with someone. But why hasn't that person ever come farward.

 

[RobinCAL]

Just seen a note about this case being on crime watch . So heartbreaking for his mother. I unfortunately don't think they'll find anything now, and even if they did, I agree with others that he's deceased.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

There are many cases like this one, and it's so sad. I hope his family does get answers.

 

[jenpil]

l find it a little odd that he said he would be returning home soon.

Well, he just said that to his friend so he couldn't worry.
We've all said things to friends so they don't become overly concerned, and we don't burden them.
He just wanted to be left alone.
He hasn't in a good mental place after his dad died, he was arguing with his mother and I think suicide is likely, but not finding a body after this long is unusual. He must've gone deep into rural woods or something.

 

[dotr]

The faces of Wales' missing men and women

Robert was 15 years old when he went missing 18 years ago.

He was last seen in Neath on March 22, 2002.''

(Image: missingpeople.org.uk)

 

[Mind your biscuits]

Missing Robert Williams: New appeal 20 years after boy disappeared

 

[dotr]

Missing Robert Williams: New appeal 20 years after boy disappeared

Thanks, from link..

Robert Williams (left) as a 15-year-old and (right) as he might look now

''We remain committed to finding out what happened to Robert."
He believed the local communities of Resolven and Aberdulais had "key information that might help us understand what happened to him".

"It may seem challenging to recall details from 20 years ago, but no matter how small or insignificant you think the information you hold is, it could prove vital to our investigation and could help provide Robert's family with much needed closure.

"Twenty years without answers has been agony for them - please, if you hold information, it is not too late to do the right thing after all this time and come forward."

 

[StillDiggin]

Renewed police appeal
#APPEAL #RESOLVEN #NEATH #ABERDULAIS #TAIRFELIN
Saturday 9th September 2023 would have been Robert Williams 37th birthday and detectives are renewing their appeal for information.

Robert was aged 15 when he went missing from his home in #Resolven, Neath, on 22nd March 2002. Despite extensive enquiries and numerous appeals for information over the past 21 years, officers have been unable to find him.

Detective Inspector Dai Butt said: “All outstanding missing person cases remain open and are revisited periodically in case new evidence comes to light. We remain committed to finding out what happened to Robert.

“I believe that the local community of #Aberdulais holds key information that might help us understand what happened to him.

“It is known that Robert attended a house party in Tair Felin, Aberdulais on Saturday 23rd March 2002 where other local people were present.

“If you were at the party or have any information regarding Robert’s movements or disappearance, we would really like to speak to you. It may seem challenging to recall details from 21 years ago, but no matter how small or insignificant you think the information you hold is, it could prove vital to our investigation and could help provide Robert’s family with much needed closure.

“All this time without answers has been agony for them – please if you hold information, it is not too late after all this time to come forward.”

Robert’s Mum Cheryl expanded: “I know that Robert is never coming home. I just want his body back so I can bury him. He deserves that. I don't want him out there on his own and we need closure as a family.

“Someone out there knows what happened to him. As a mother knowing my child is lying somewhere has destroyed me emotionally and physically. I need to know what happened to him.”

Anyone with information can contact South Wales Police by one of the below means quoting occurrence number 2300271756.

Visit Public Portal and scroll drown to the South Wales Police crest or copy this link – Public Portal

Live Chat https://www.south-wales.police.uk/
Email swp101@south-wales.police.uk
101

*Always call 999 in an emergency.*

To give information anonymously please contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via this link https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/pre-form

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