Case Study - Gerald Quigley
10 Jul 2018 — Gerald Quigley was born in the South East but had settled in the Walker area of Newcastle when he went missing after serving in the British Army. He was 25yrs old and was last seen on 3 April 1999 leaving the home he shared with his partner on Courtfield Road.
Gerald is approximately 5ft 10in with brown hair and brown eyes. He has “Always wanted, Always loved” tattooed across his shoulders. He has links to London and Surrey.
A note from Peter Quigley (brother)
“For those who know nothing or little of Gerald's case, on the 3rd April 1999 at the age of 25, he left his home in Courtfield Road, Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne. However, his disappearance was not reported to Northumbria Police until the 13th April, some ten days after him walking out. The fact there are ten days between disappearance and reporting, leads me to believe Gerald may have come to harm by someone he knew, or was deliberate to allow him a head start in leaving his old life behind him. What resources Gerald had on him when he left, we do not know. The police have been unable to trace or recover his mobile phone, there are no signs of him having his passport and money. Although if he had any money it would have been very little. So with the background covered, I am now going to talk about 'our' experiences as a Missing Persons Family with the authorities over the nineteen years since Geralds' disappearance in 1999.
Although along the way I have done what I could do in the search for Gerald, it was my parents who have not given hope that Gerald will either return to us in person, or will be found and it was my late father who kept up the contact between the family and the Police, until his passing in early 2013.
In the begining we were visited by a local police constable from the Metropolitan Police, telling my late father he was to make contact with Northumbria Police. Soon after this request was made, two detectives travelled down, they interviewed us individually, my parents together and the whole family. There seemed to be something not quite right with the way they spoke with us, however we gave them their answers and as much information regarding Gerald and his life thus far as we could. At this time they were unsure of Gerald's whereabouts but offered great hope in the efforts to locate him.
Within a couple of months, my father was asked to attend the local police station with a family member or close friend. As he had suffered tragedy in his own young life, he asked a local priest and close friend of the family to accompany him. He was shown some photographic evidence of human remains, which thankfully were unidentifiable to be Gerald. The priest informed the police that my father was not in great health and if there was an easier way of going through this process? Later that month some police officers attended my parents home to take their DNA and informed that whenever human remains are found, DNA is taken and run through a national DNA register/database. Which meant both the Police and the family could potentially know quicker and with less anguish caused to my parents.
Soon after this my mother wrote to Nick Ross at Crimewatch, to see if they could appeal for Gerald. The response was not a positive one when we were told that Crimewatch only appealed cases supplied to them by the various Police forces around the UK.
Gerald at this point had only been missing for a couple of years and we felt very much alone. When my mother received this response my father contacted Northumbria Police who informed him to get in touch with the local Missing Persons unit as Gerald's case had not been reopened for a little while. At this time through an acquaintance we made contact with Missing People who also took up a torch in the search for Gerald.
My father with the Police saw Gerald's case was sent for review and then sent back as it was felt that the Police had not investigated properly and there were things which needed reviewing and re-examining. Obviously details were not mentioned as not to compromise the case. My father was informed that procedure meant Gerald's case would be open for annual review to which he probably only received a small number of phonecalls and then nothing.
In 2009, I made contact with the BBC's program 'Missing' and they were to air an appeal for Gerald. As I worked for quite a large flagship company at the time, they kindly allowed for Gerald's case to be broadcast around the business in the UK. Then right at the last minute the appeal was pulled from air, for someone whose needs were greater. In order to have Gerald's case aired we needed permission from Northumbria Police. At the time his case was still with the area station, but none there knew it was meant to be an active ongoing case and so were happy for us to act and go ahead.
A while after Dad died, my brother's ex-wife appeared, re-establishing contact through social media. Things that had been said in the past were no longer been mentioned and recollections had drastically changed as if there were denials. After a conversation lasting the course of a few nights with our Mum, I decided to enquire regarding complaining over the way Gerald's case had been handled and so began to research how this could be done. I then sat and composed a letter raising my concerns and a belief that there were failings on the part of the Police.
The police asked us what we as the family wanted, obviously we wanted Gerald back, we responded with a new investigation which was agreed upon. It was always made known that my letter had led Northumbria Police to discover there were over fifty family's in the same position as us and it had caused a shake-up in the manner they dealt with missing people cases. Certain people the police wanted to speak to in the Newcastle area were no longer available to speak with and certain lines of enquiry were followed with negative results.
Although we believed the Police were doing all they could, including a media campaign, we still felt anguished and helpless. Soon we were given the news that it would be down to us to keep looking for Gerald through social media, the internet and other family members, as his case would remain unsolved and eligible only for an annual review.
Northumbria Police failed to make contact at the begining of 2017 and so I made contact with them, not only due to not receiving the promised annual review but because Gerald's eldest daughter had made contact with me with some messages from her mother, which I thought the Police should look into further, even if they were just sent in anger, there was still some weight to them. Eventually the case was given to a detective to re-examine and make certain checks that the police are able to make with other government agencies, but no movement on other issues raised. The officer also made some promises but then I feel I was fobbed off with a standard answer to say it had previously been done and there was no need to go down that route again.
I feel that even though the Police have tried to make up for their past shortcomings, there is something with Gerald's case which just not ring true and someone, somewhere knows a vital piece of information concerning his disappearance and complete lack of contact with his family. I have one parent that has gone to his grave having buried his siblings and his baby daughter, but not knowing what happened to his second son. I do not want my mum to suffer the same fate”.
https://www.change.org/p/introduce-...sure-more-missing-people-are-found/u/22994723
