The campaign which put the faces of missing people on Canberra's milk bottles should continue, and should also show those that have been found, says a mother who helped promote the cause.
Eileen Fahey said that showing those who have been found would help to demonstrate that for some families, there is resolution and the campaign "is not just about the sad stories but the happy ones, too".
Mrs Fahey's son, Anthony, went missing six years ago after boarding a bus from Canberra and disembarking on Eddy Avenue, just near Sydney's Central railway station. He has not been seen since then.
She has been a strong advocate of using different techniques to raise awareness of not just her family's plight, but those of others racked with the uncertainty of a missing family member.
"My philosophy is that anything which can raise the exposure should be supported, and we know this campaign has reached a lot of people," she said.
Over the six-week campaign period from June 6, Canberra Milk produced 60,000 one-litre milk bottles with the faces and profiles of 12 missing people from the ACT and surrounding NSW region.
It was a joint initiative between the Australian Federal Police and Capitol Chilled Foods, which opened in Fyshwick in 1949 as the Dairy Farmers Cooperative Milk Company.
While an "old school" concept which originated in the US in the late 1970s, was later adopted here then quietly went away, reviving the concept generated national publicity for both the company and the cause, reaching a claimed audience of 6.9 million people.
The associated social media campaign reached 344,700 people.
"For those families still waiting and hoping, it put those missing persons' faces on breakfast benches, in tea rooms and kitchens all around our region," Mrs Fahey said.
"I think that's always the challenge for the families and loved ones; to maintain that level of public awareness out in the community.
"This campaign got into those places where missing persons families can't usually reach."
She said that the milk bottle campaign also performed the vital function of acting as a "conversation starter" among families.
"If a child sees the photos and asks a parent what it is about, then that's an opportunity to have an important conversation about how important it is, no matter what happens, for families to always keep in touch," she said.
"Because every week, every month, every year that goes past without any news of Anthony is a heartbreak that I would not want any family to bear."
Shortly after her "tall, strong and lovable" son went missing, she and Anthony's siblings travelled to Sydney and walked the streets for days searching for him.
"We distributed cards, put up posters, visited hospitals, homeless shelters and police stations, spoke to many people, and walked all the parks and streets all around Eddy Avenue," she said.
"For me, if all Anthony wanted was to get away and have some space from the family then that's okay,
"All I want to know is that he's somewhere safe and that he's okay.
"It's not a crime for someone to go missing. Some people just don't want to be found.
"But what's important is that families like ours are not left in this awful limbo."
Regarding the future of the milk bottle initiative, the Australian Federal Police said it was working to "finalise an ongoing corporate supporter arrangement, which will result in the continuation and expansion of this incredible profiling campaign".
