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A renewed appeal has been made for information about the whereabouts of a County Tyrone man a year after he disappeared.
Gerard Conway was last seen in the Cookstown area at the end of January last year. Despite extensive enquiries on both sides of the border, no clues as to his whereabouts have been discovered.
Today (Monday January 28 2008) members of his family renewed their offer of a £100,000 reward for information about their son.
The Conway family are well known in the Cookstown area, and although Gerard has lived in various places, Cookstown is a familiar place to him and he is well known in the town.
Gerard was reported missing on February 13 of last year and since then police have been making extensive enquiries.
Inspector Sue Anne Steen, Cookstown sector inspector, said:
"This past year has been a very difficult one for the relatives and friends of Mr Conway and we hope that the appeal that is being renewed today will help them discover just what has happened to him.
"Gerard is 33 and is 6 feet tall, of a medium build. He has short, dark brown hair and blue eyes and has a scar running through his right eyebrow and another above his right eye.
"After he was reported missing, police made initial checks in and around Cookstown and extended these to the republic and to England as time passed.
"We have CCTV footage of Gerard at a bank on January 25 and there were sightings by people who knew him in late January and early February. Since then there have been unconfirmed sightings in the Magherafelt, Toome and Ballymena areas.
"Because of the family's connections with the Republic, we have worked with An Garda Siochana to extend the appeal there.
"One concern is that Gerard may have taken ill in an isolated place and we have carried out widespread searches of the local countryside, using dogs and aircraft to assist.
"At present we have no concrete leads as to what has become of Gerard and we continue to search for clues. As a part of that, we are about to embark on a fresh series of searches of derelict buildings in areas around Cookstown.
"Gerard's disappearance has placed his family and friends under great strain and they have made considerable efforts themselves in attempting to locate Gerard. Their fortitude in very trying times is commendable."
Any information, no matter how seemingly insignificant, could be of assistance and we would ask people to search their memories. Any piece of information that could be useful can be given to police in Cookstown, telephone 0845 600 8000, or directly to the family.
Cookstown (last seen)
TYRONE
BT80
