‘WE'LL DO EVERYTHING TO BRING MUM

CHRISTINE FENNER’S FAMILY REFUSE TO GIVE UP HOPE

- Ruth McCarthy

For the past 22 years, Will Fenner and his family have been clinging to the hope that his missing mum, Christine, is still alive.

All too often, his mind drifts back to his treasured childhood memories and the smiling face of the 48-year-old who simply vanished from her home in Booyal, Qld.

“When we were young and living in WA, Mum used to take me and my sister to the end of a little jetty at Fremantle Boat Harbour to eat fish and chips,” 44-year-old Will, who lives in Beaconsfield, WA recalls. “That was Mum’s favourite place.”

Sadly for the crane operator and his older sister, Cindy, 49, memories are all they have left of their beloved mother, who in February 1999 left the caravan where she lived with her de facto husband, Mark, and never returned.

“Family meant everything to mum,” Cindy tells New Idea. “She loved us, was in a happy relationship and adored being grandma to my two kids, who were little at the time. She had everything to live for.”

Single-handedly, Christine raised Cindy and Will, ensuring they never went without. While they didn’t have much financially, they were rich in love.

Yet the day Christine disappeared, those happy smiles turned to sorrow. On the afternoon of February 12, 1999, Mark went out to help the neighbours move house. When he returned home at 5.30pm, Christine was nowhere to be seen – yet the shoes she usually wore were still by the door, and her cigarettes and glasses were on the table.