David Leckey was 12 years old when he failed to return home from a trip to Bangor, Co Down – his case is one of the oldest missing person cases on the island of Ireland.
His younger siblings are anxious to find out more about the brother they never got to know.
The family are hoping that David’s school friend, who is now believed to be living in Co Kildare, can throw some light on his final known movements.
David Leckey is still logged as a missing person and the PSNI file on the case remains open.
Speaking to the Kildare Nationalist, Darren Brown, a spokesman for the Leckey family, said that David and his friend attended Oakleigh High School on the Ravenhill Road in east Belfast. The two boys played truant from school on September 25th, 1969 and went to Bangor for the day.
He said: “David’s friend came back home that evening and left David in Bangor (we believe with other friends). This friend gave an interview to the police when they visited the school a couple of days later.”
Mr Brown added: “This friend is not and never has been suspected of any foul play or wrongdoing by the authorities.”
Unfortunately the family do not know the name of the friend.
David’s mother, Annie Leckey, died in 1999 and never knew what happened to her son – she walked the streets of Belfast every single night for five years searching for David, Mr Brown said.
David’s brothers were very young at the time of his disappearance.
“Annie died without ever finding out what happened to her beloved son after waving him off to school in 1969. David’s siblings are still searching for answers,” Mr Brown said.
What the family do know is that the friend and his family left Belfast to live in Dublin sometime between 1970 and 1973 to get away from the Troubles – the friend then became a very successful businessman.
“I believe he now lives in the Co Kildare area. We have no address,” said Mr Brown.
“I would guess he would be around the same age as David. Maybe 64 to 66 years of age. I know Kildare is a very big place and this really is like finding a needle in a haystack,” he said.
“David’s brothers are reaching out for this friend. They were very young at the time and memories of David are very faded. This friend was one of the last people to spend time with their brother and they would love to hear stories and the fun that David got up to that day.”
He added: “We would love nothing more than to speak to this school pal, a Kildare resident who may be able to tell us more about that last day that he saw his friend when they were both schoolboys. It would give the family a lot of comfort and peace to have a chat with him.”
Darren Brown can be contacted at themonk7@hotmail.co.uk or by phone on 07789390454.
