Five years ago, Jonathan Spollen, an Irish journalist and a former staff member of this newspaper, was visiting Rishikesh in northern India. His last known conversation was a short telephone call with his mother, Lynda, in early February 2012. By the end of the month he had been reported missing. He has not been seen or heard of since.
His disappearance prompted a widespread search for clues and, sadly, many false leads. All these efforts have yielded are the recovery of a few of his belongings and a sense that there are so many unanswered questions. Talking to the BBC, Lynda Spollen, who lives in Dublin, described an unending ordeal that haunts her daily existence.
Think for a moment how much your own life has changed in the past five years. Now, think what it must be like to be stuck for years, as the Spollen family have been, somewhere between hope and despair. It is our sincere hope that Jonathan’s family find the answers they desire to this terrible mystery.