Missing person cases often are a terrible experience for families to endure.
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When someone who is part of your life suddenly disappears without a trace, those left behind can be left with a terrible combination of despair and grief.
They effectively mourn for their loss while continuing to hold-out hope that their loved one will some day be found alive.
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Just a fraction of these tragic stories are re-told each year when police hold missing person weeks in an effort to solve such cases, many stretching back decades.
Whatever the fate of the person who cannot be found, their families aren't necessarily looking for closure but they do have an overwhelming need to know.
The longer someone is gone, the more chance there is that they might have met with some kind of foul play.
It's true that many who go missing do so as a way of creating a new life and a new identity for themselves, but when there is a tragic end those left behind need to be able to mourn.
This is the reality faced every day by the family of Ruth Ridley.
She has now been missing for almost a year, having last been seen camping east of Walwa on October 26, 2019.
Sadly, police suspect Mrs Ridley might have been murdered after the body of her husband, Gary, was found inside his vehicle at Shelley.
His death was treated as a suicide and came after there reportedly had been intervention orders put in place between the pair.
Victoria Police have now announced they will be conducting a major search operation in the Upper Murray next week - between Corryong and the Wymah Ferry - in order to find out just what happened to Mrs Ridley.
As Detective Senior Constable Andrew Leonard says, this might just "enable her family to move on with the situation".
"Police are motivated by community expectations, justice, and for the family to have an understanding of what's occurred," he says.
We would urge anyone with information related to Mrs Ridley's disappearance to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
