It’s nearly 10 years since Rory Johnson Hatfield disappeared during a night out in York.
There has been no trace of him since a last sighting on CCTV at 12.47am on Friday 20 November 2015, in the City Mills area.
For his mum, dad, family and friends there can be no closure until they find answers to what happened.
They all maintain Rory did not fall into the river, as police believe, they think there is another explanation.
In an interview with David Dunning for the Sunday Late Show on YorkMix Radio this weekend, his mum, Liz Johnson, says she thinks about her son every waking moment and feels he is out there somewhere.
Liz Johnson explained what day to day life was like. “I just have to get on with it and keep strong and focused. Nobody knows anything different. So I’ve just got to go with my instinct, which it is that Rory is out there somewhere.
“Don’t get me wrong, I do go down at times, but then I get back up because we don’t know anything. We don’t know if Rory is all right, we don’t know that he’s not all right. So I’ve just got to stay as strong as I can and carry on.
“I really don’t think Rory ever went into the river. I think if the police had put the river to one side at the beginning, we might have had a better outcome.”
Asked about North Yorkshire Police, she said: “I’ve not had any contact with the police for years. I think they drew their own conclusions on the night that that they rang me.”
In her view lots was missed and overlooked in the investigation. She’s particularly concerned that CCTV footage from another camera was never recovered.
“When Sam and I went to ask about it, well, the police actually told us that it had been recorded over. But when we went to the hotel, the lady told us that it was on a four day loop, so they’d obviously not been there either.
“I don’t have a lot of good things to say about the police”
Liz last saw Rory was on the day before his birthday in 2015. “He came home for his birthday weekend. He stayed on the Friday and the Saturday, and he left on the Sunday, and he was fine, in good spirits. Just my Rory, how he’s always been.
“Rory’s in my mind every minute, when I wake up and through the day, I just want to know what happened. Because it’s just absolutely torturous as the years go on, it gets worse.”
‘Rory wasn’t himself’
Liz gets a lot of support and love from her family, people like Sam Drury, her cousin.
She told us: “We’re just there for her you know, we wipe her tears and bring her up when she’s down. It’s just awful.
“I never thought ten years down the line we’d be sat here still none the wiser. I don’t know how she gets out of bed every day, she is strong, very strong, we’ve been friends for a long time.
“We’ve always said he hasn’t gone in the river, I think with all the extensive searching and everything that was done, I think he would have popped up by now.”
Sam and Rory had a good relationship but she says something was wrong the last time she saw him. He wasn’t himself.
“We live next door but two so it’s like a joined houses. He was always round. He was always first to arrive and last to leave.
“He loved a good party. He gets on with whatever age, he’d come round and have a drink with us and then go out with his mates his own age, he’ll get on with anyone.
“I don’t know whether he was in trouble before he got there (York on 19 November 2015).
“The last time I saw him, it was a weird conversation. It felt like you weren’t going to see him again for a bit. When you think back, it was like he was planning on doing one, he was saying things like, you look after mum and we’ll always be friends.
“I just think he had stuff on his mind, maybe, and he’s had to get away, but I just don’t think he could have done it on his own. All his precious stuff was left here, which he carried with him all the time. Very unlike him.”
So did Liz think something was up last time she saw him? “I didn’t when I was speaking to him, but when I look back at the photographs of him, he looks troubled.”
She sent this special message to Rory in the hope that he is out there and can read it.
“We all love you so much. We just want you to come home. And if you don’t want to come home yet, just let somebody know that you’re OK. We just need to know that you’re OK, that’s the main thing, but we just want you home.”
North Yorkshire Police will always be interested to hear any new information that can help with the investigation. They can be contacted on 101.
On the night of 19 November 2015, Rory, then aged 29, was having a night out in York, a city that he loved and knew well.
He was staying at the York Central Travelodge on Piccadilly. His friend last saw him when he left the hotel at 12.15am.
He was then pictured on the CCTV cameras in Tower Street at 12.39am. Eight minutes later there was another sighting of Rory in the City Mills area.
After his disappearance, the police underwater search unit scoured the river. York Rescue Boat have also carried out regular searches. But no sign of him has ever been found.
