THE MOTHER of a missing Gwent man wept as she revealed the depth of her sorrow a month after his disappearance.
Tracey Reid whose son, Joel Andrews, went missing on May 22 was supported by her mother, Sidonia Cartwright, as she gave an exclusive insight into their month of misery.
Mrs Reid, 46, last spoke to her son at around 9.30pm on May 21 when he called to say he had changed his mind about going to a rave on Dartmoor and would be back the next day. The 24 year old was last seen at around 12pm on Sunday May 22 close to Fernworthy Reservoir near Chagford.
When Mr Andrews was still not home by the Monday, Mrs Reid text his girlfriend Sarah Bannister, and tried his friends.
Mrs Reid said: "I was phoning and texting him in between, but there was no response. On Tuesday morning I knew there was something wrong."
Over the past month, friends and family members have been helping officers search the moor, concentrating on the area around the reservoir, but there has been no news.
Mrs Reid said: "We just want him to come home or to ring someone. It's completely out of character for him to go missing. We just want people who may've seen him to come forward."
Mr Andrews's grandmother, Sidonia Cartwright, said: "It's just not knowing that make it so hard."
Mr Andrews recently moved back to the family home in Caldicot, after living in Bristol for a while, and was in the process of setting up a club as part of his sound system business, Kaotic. The former Caldicot Comprehensive School pupil trained as a welder at Nash College, before starting work at Llanwern Steelworks. He moved to the Port Talbot site after being made redundant from Llanwern and after being laid off again, he used the redundancy money to set up Kaotic.
Mrs Reid said: "Music has always been his passion. His music's really taken off over the past year. He's played gigs in Portugal, France, Vienna and was supposed to be playing in Milan later this month. He wouldn't want to be missing that."
Mr Andrews' absence will be especially hard for the family this week as his 25th birthday is on June 26, followed by his brother Gareth's 26th and sister, Carleigh's 22nd, on June 27.
Mrs Reid said the family always celebrate the three birthdays together, along with older brother, Christopher, 29.
She said: "We just want any mother whose children were at the rave to ask them. Anything is better than this."
More than 10,000 have joined a group on social networking site, Facebook, called 'Joel Andrews Missing' which has been innundated with messages since it was set up and the family will also appear on ITV's This Morning this week to appeal for information for help.
Mr Andrews was last seen wearing a grey ‘Animal’ hooded top, blue jeans, a dark green waist length jacket and a camouflage cap.
Anyone with information or who has seen Mr Andrews should contact Devon and Cornwall Police on 08452 777444 quoting reference 421 280511 or Gwent Police on 101.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article