For me, 2024 was the year the organisation finally started to feel settled. With our first bequest, global uptake of our resources and the hiring of our very first member of staff, lived
experience champion and former board member Lili Greer, we now have a predictable future ahead of us, albeit just a couple of years at a time.

Alongside our cherished long-serving and new monthly and regular donors, throughout the year much-needed funds were raised by supporters who organised events including Lili’s 12 for Tina charity dinner in Sydney, and SenateSHJ’s 17-member strong Melbourne Marathon team. This support allowed us to progress with our big picture goals, work closely with 43 Australian families – providing everything from graphic design, strategic communications, search support, facilitation of pro bono legal advice and media guidance – as well as respond to calls for assistance from a Ballarat school reeling from the high-profile disappearance of Samantha Murphy. Indiana’s Purdue University covered my travel expenses to attend and present at the 2024 Cold Case Symposium in Florida. During the symposium, we had top US organisations
engaging with our work, almost 100 sets of The Hope Narratives were sold on the spot, and Missed was such a hit that we were invited back for the 2025 event.

Our Ambiguous Loss Masterclass continues to be embraced by families and professionals alike. The online masterclass has been viewed over 1500 times, and has been translated into Spanish thanks to an Ireland-based bilingual PhD student with experience in service support for families of missing people in Mexico.

Beyond the dozens of Australian families we supported throughout 2024, we also provided various resources and opportunities to loved ones abroad outside of the US Cold Case Symposium. With freshly translated, printed and produced Spanish collateral in tow for the symposium, we facilitated a very moving workshop for Mexican group, Familias Buscadoras de Yucatán.

Another highlight from the year was meeting the mother of 19-year-old California woman, Julie Garciacelay, who disappeared in North Melbourne in 1975. Though now 93, and with little faith her daughter’s case will be resolved, we were able to arrange a plaque, tree planting and church service which was livestreamed to her home amongst the Californian redwoods where I was able to sit next to her, holding her hand. MinterEllison’s guidance helped us licence and trademark

The Hope NarrativesTM, prompting us to make a second edition of the tool and then engage a manufacturer in China, which allowed us to reach thousands of users internationally. Our long-awaited new website went live, we commenced the media guidelines project in collaboration with Prof. Sarah Wayland and Everymind – hosting focus groups with families, journalists and police media units – and we welcomed former Deputy State Coroner Jacqui Hawkins to the Board. The work we’ve done inspired more creative work in 2024, in the form of the book Gone by esteemed author Glenna Thomson, and a brilliant production called The Comprehensive A-Z of Missing Persons in Australia by the WA Youth TheatreCompany.

We continue to receive referrals from institutions like Griefline, Beyond Blue, Services Australia and police and health professionals generally. Despite a positive meeting with the Chief of Staff for the Assistant Minister for Health the Hon. Ged Kearney MP after we learned our budget submission was unsuccessful, it seems our leaders aren’t willing to recognise the impact of this cause. To date, The Missed Foundation has not received a cent of state or federal government funding. Generous Australians continue to fuel this charity, and this year we received a branded vehicle (leased through a small Melbourne business for a year) to help us get around and spread awareness.

On this note, we would like to thank each of our individual and corporate donors for their support in 2024. Without you, the assistance we provide to families of missing loved ones would be severely limited.

My Aunty Irene’s bequest (the biggest single influx of funds in our 12 years) has afforded us some breathing room for the meantime, but our quest for sustainable funding continues.

Onwards and upwards,

Loren O’Keeffe
Founder and CEO