Lee Sheppard has a beautiful son he has never seen who was born after he  “vanished into thin air” four years ago, aged 26.

The New Zealand rugby player had been at work on a late shift in Cricklewood, London during a snow storm in January 2003 and had only hours before been told the great news that he was going to becoming a dad. According to this report, he popped out for a cigarette, and was never seen again.

His wife Juliet spoke to him that evening when he arrived for his late shift as a supervisor at European Metal Recycling n Willesden, north London. But he never returned home. His credit cards and mobile phone have not been touched.

Juliet and Lee were both excited about starting a family. She has since returned to New Zealand where their son Jaden was born.

His distraught family travelled over from New Zealand and put up 700 posters along the route he would have walked.

Lee’s father Ken said the family were were “stuck in limbo” and would never move on with their lives until they found Lee or learned of his fate.

“Nothing has changed since the day Lee went missing as far as we are concerned. We’ve never stopped looking, we’ve never given up and we never will, not until we know”.

The family have vowed to sell their family house to fund their search for answers. Lee’s father said:

“Family is the most important thing you have on this earth. Anything else you can survive without.

“I know we are three years down the track, but I still believe we need to pursue it. We can’t just put our heads in the sand and let it go. We haven’t had closure. How can we forget it?”

Last year the family employed a New Zealand-based private investigating firm to help them in their search. I would like to know if any new leads were found.

As a mother, I’m sure I would feel exactly the same in his shoes. It must be so much harder too being based in another country, the same difficulties which the McCann’s are facing in their continuing search for Madeleine.

How can anyone vanish into thin air?

In memory of those who are still missing.