Two national television segments to screen soon will hopefully bring home a loved son and brother to a Ballarat family.
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It has been 10 months since Donald "Donny" Govan, then 16, was last seen running from a campsite into dense bush near Echuca.
Sister Rachael O'Keane was camping with Donny and some friends on August 31 last year when he began to act erratically and paranoid.
It was Donny's first holiday and the first time he had left the Ballarat region.
He begged Rachael to drive him home to Ballarat, but she had been drinking, so offered to take him the next morning.
Without warning, he stood up and bolted down an unsealed track before darting into dense bush land.
A friend gave chase for 100 metres before losing him in the bush.
There have been several confirmed and unconfirmed sightings of Donny since his disappearance which have led to dead ends.
Donny's story will feature on Channel 10's new program Wanted and SBS's Insight in coming weeks, in the hope someone will come forward with information.
"We are going nationwide, so when people see him they will know he is a missing person, prompting sightings to be reported immediately," Rachael said.
"We are hoping that if the story is on national television, the right person will see it and help us out, hopefully."
A strong sense of hope keeps Rachel from thinking about the worst.
"They say no news is good news. We haven't heard any bad news, so it gives us hope," she said.
"We just want to do what we can to get Donny home and close the case."
The O'Keane family's greatest challenge is the unknown that they are faced with each day.
"There is no closure. We can't grieve because we don't know if he is alive or dead," Rachael said.
"Mentally, our family has been turned upside down.
"I have a constant battle of not knowing where my little brother is."
Donny's story appeared briefly on Channel 7's Today Tonight last year but no new leads surfaced.
Donny's story will be aired on Insight on Tuesday, July 16.
"We love him and miss him so much,"Rachael said. "If he is out there and doesn't want to come home, we just want a phone call to know he is OK."
david.jeans@fairfaxmedia.com.au
