How do you cope when your child disappears in broad daylight and you never see them again?
It is a reality Greg and Christine Gordon have lived with for nearly 44 years, since their four-year-old daughter Kirste was snatched from Adelaide Oval during a football match.
"It's all been about survival, it's all been about just getting on with life," Mrs Gordon said.
Mr and Mrs Gordon were in South Australia's Riverland visiting friends when Mrs Gordon's mother, who was looking after Kirste, broke the news.
Kirste disappeared in August 1973, seven years after the three Beaumont children vanished from a beachside suburb in Adelaide.
She had walked to the oval's toilet with 11-year-old Joanne Ratcliffe, and they never came back.
Their disappearance is being highlighted as part of Missing Persons Week.
Despite the time that has passed, Mrs Gordon said the heartbreak still felt as raw as the day it happened.
"It was the longest day I think I've ever lived in my life," she said.
Without thinking, they jumped in the car for what Mrs Gordon described as one of the longest four-hour drives of her life.
"As we drove through Truro they played a Scottish tune called Will Ye No Come Back Again and that just broke me," she said.
"I really can't hear that song anymore."
Over the years there have been many leads, with reports that a man was seen taking the two girls from the oval.
Searches have also been conducted to find their remains but they have never been uncovered and no-one has been arrested.
Mrs Gordon said she did not know if finding Kirste's remains would make her feel any different about never seeing her daughter again.
"What is closure? Do you need to have a body? Do you need to have a funeral? Do you need to bring her home?
"To us, she is home, because she is here with us."
Disappearance stats a harrowing warning to parents
Each year 38,000 people around Australia go missing and two-thirds are under the age of 18.
Assistant Commissioner Debbie Platt said they were predominantly female and aged between 13 and 17.
While most are located in the first week, other families, like the Gordons, can go for years without hearing from them.
"When someone goes missing it causes a great deal of frustration, angst and worry for many family and friends," Assistant Commissioner Platt said.
"Any information that the community can give us, particularly in Missing Persons Week, is vital.
"We will continue to have people on our books until they are located."
Australian Federal Police victim-based crime national coordinator Marina Simoncini said the impact on families of missing persons could be devastating.
"They have no idea what has happened to someone they love," she said.
"When there's a death in the family there's some finality to it.
"When someone's missing you have this ongoing rollercoaster of hope and hopelessness."
