The mother of missing MANIC STREET PREACHER RICHEY EDWARDS has written a letter to her son via a Sunday tabloid.
Sherry Edwards still holds out hope that Richey, who went missing in February 1995 on the eve of an American tour, is still alive.
She told the Sunday Mirror: “I will never forget the last time I spoke to Richard. He called me the night before he disappeared and we chatted on the phone. Almost in passing he said he didn’t want to go to America but there was nothing that made me concerned. He sounded normal.”
Richey checked out of London’s Embassy Hotel at 7am on February 1, 1995 and returned to his flat in Cardiff. His car was found by the Severn Bridge while his passport was found still in his flat, prompting fears the guitarist committed suicide.
In the letter to her son, published on Sunday, Sherry says: “We all love and miss you so much and you are never out of our thoughts. I worry about you constantly, not knowing where you are and how you are keeping.
“I am scared that your decision to disappear like that has made you feel that you can never come back. We all want to tell you that’s not true. We don’t care where you went or why you did it.
“We need to let you know that we have never stopped wanting you to come back and that whatever has happened you’ll always be safe with us. To see you walk through our door or even hear your voice again would make me the happiest person in the world.
“When you went away you took a huge part of me with you and I will never be able to reclaim that without you. Dad and Rachel love and miss you too – you are still part of our family, even though you are no longer here with us.
“I can never give up hope that you will return one day and, wherever you are, I hope the pain you carried inside has gone away. You are my precious son and I will never give up looking for you.”
Any information about Richey can be passed on to the National Missing Persons Hotline on 0500 700700.