Daughter's plea for information on missing dad ahead of Father's Day

Bethany Dainty (19) appealed for help to find her missing dad who has not been seen for six months.

She said: “It is almost Father’s Day, and I have never spent a Father’s Day without my dad.

“It is going to be so hard for me to get through this day without my dad. I just miss him so much.”

Richard, who turned 57 on Christmas Eve, was last seen by Bethany on the evening of Friday, November 15, when he dropped her off in the Aston.

After months of enquiries, officers still believe the last time Richard was seen by anyone was two days later, on Sunday, November 17, at about 11pm, when he was seen walking towards the A6135 Sheffield Road in Hoyland, close to Parkside Cottage.

Det Insp Neil Coop, who is overseeing the investigation into Richard’s disappearance, said: “Our thoughts are with Bethany, who has already endured the heartache of not seeing her dad on his birthday, at Christmas, so many other important family occasions and now Father’s Day.

“The last six months have been incredibly hard for Bethany and we are desperate to give her the answers she needs and deserves.

“Since November, we have done multiple, extensive land searches, as well house-to-house enquiries, examination of hours of CCTV footage, forensic examinations of Richard’s cars and telecoms work.

“We continue to focus on the days immediately before Richard was last seen and those that followed straight after, as we believe the answers lie within that time frame. Someone, somewhere, must know something about what happened to Richard.

“Did he mention that he was going somewhere to anyone? Did he say anything that may give us a clue as to what happened to him after Bethany saw him on Friday night, or after he was last seen on Sunday night?

“He has never gone this long without speaking to Bethany and they had their routines, which were massively important to both of them.

“We will not stop looking for Richard and we are determined to scrutinise every single piece of information that comes our way and follow up every line of enquiry until we establish what happened.

“I would again urge anyone who holds information to think long and hard about the impact of your silence on Bethany and Richard’s family. Please, for their sake, tell us what you know and help us to find Richard.”

Anyone with information should call 101, quoting incident number 459 of November 25.

You can also give information anonymously to independent charity Crimestoppers via their website – www.crimestoppers-uk.org – or by calling their UK Contact Centre on 0800 555 111.