A TERRITORY mother has made a heartfelt plea to her son to come home this Christmas.

Janine Reeves fought to hold back tears as she told the Northern Territory News yesterday that the only gift she wanted this festive season was to see her son again.

Her son, Bryan Maxted, 25, mysteriously fled Darwin for Sydney in September.

He did not tell anyone where he was going.

Several days later he sent his mother a text message on her mobile phone saying that he had gone away with a friend to "sort himself out".

He also asked her not to phone him. She has not heard from him since.

"I don't know what's happened - I don't want to think about what has happened," she said. "I just want to know Bryan is OK.

"I love him, he is my only child."

Ms Reeves, 52, from Berrimah in Darwin, said police, after looking at flight records and investigating further, were able to tell her that Mr Maxted had flown to Sydney on September 28 and checked into a hotel at The Rocks for three days.

Police believe he extended his stay for a further three days but he did not check out. Hotel staff raised the alarm when they found his personal belongings in the room on October 5.

"I don't know why he went to Sydney," his mother said. "He is a Territory boy since the age of four and he still lived with me.

"It's completely out of character for him to do this.

"That's why I know something has happened to him.

"But a big city like that, people can't simply disappear without someone seeing or knowing something."

The patient care assistant said she was concerned for her son because he had been battling depression for about four years.

Her message: "Bryan, I love you, please come home."

Mr Maxted, or anyone knowing his whereabouts, is urged to contact NT Police on 131 444 - or on (08) 8922 1522 from interstate.

 

Mother's emotional appeal for missing son

Updated February 20, 2012 13:15:05

A Northern Territory woman has made an emotional plea for anyone with information about her missing son to come forward.

Bryan Maxted, 25, checked into a hotel in The Rocks in Sydney in September 2009.

His family has not heard from him since and New South Wales Police have made an appeal to the public to help find Mr Maxted.

Mr Maxted's mother, Janine Reeves, says she would be grateful for any information.

"I really want to find out if Bryan's alive or even if something's happened to him," she said.

"Because every day, not knowing, it's really really hard.

"And he's my only child and I really love him and it's just terrible living every day not knowing."

She says police have no fresh leads.

"They can't find any record of movement on his bank account, no use of Medicare, just all the different things that police have access to.

"There's absolutely nothing.

"But at the same time, we still remain hopeful because there hasn't been a body found and identified as Bryan's."

Bryan Maxted (26) was declared dead four years after he went missing

HE was her cheeky, lovable, only child that lit up her world for 26 years.

But then he disappeared.

Janine Reeves will farewell her son Bryan Maxted at a small service in her garden at Moil today - four years after his disappearance in Sydney.

A NSW coroner this week made his initial findings that - on the balance of probability - Bryan was dead.

It provides little comfort for his mother Ms Reeves who described the past five years of not knowing what happened to her son as "hell on earth."

"It is the worst thing that has happened to me. It was hell on earth losing Bryan that way,"

Bryan's last known movement was a taxi ride from the swish hotel he had checked into at The Rocks to Kings Cross. After that, the trail went cold.

Ms Reeves said she did not know what happened to her son and does not speculate.

She said the coronial findings did not bring her closure, in fact she hated the word.

"There is no closure if there is no body.

"This person disappears off the face of the earth - 35,000 people go missing each year in Australia. What the hell is going on?"

The Wow Sight and Sound salesman had checked into the hotel for three days on September 29, 2009 and then extended his stay by a further three nights.

Ms Reeves did not know he had left Darwin until she noticed his airconditioner was on in the caravan he lived in on her Berrimah property.

"I texted him to say you have left the aircon on, where are you? Are you OK. He apologised for leaving the aircon on and said he had just gone to a friend's place."

That was her last contact with him. Bryan has never touched his bank account nor used his Medicare card since.

A potentially crucial key to his disappearance, his phone, was destroyed by NSW police along with his other possessions in his hotel room.

Police apologised to Ms Reeves for the major blunder.

Mr Maxted was on anti-anxiety medication at the time, and had seen a general practitioner in Sydney.

Ms Reeves said she did not believe that her son's disappearance was deliberate.

"We were close, you don't go through a marriage break-up and bring your kid up on your own without being close," she said.

Ms Reeves said she was touched by what Bryan's friends had written about her son for the memorial. They described him as "caring" and "gentle."

People who knew Bryan are welcome to attend the memorial at Unit 3/12 Budgen St, Moil at 3pm today.

The Families and Friends of Missing Persons Unit is hoping to establish a chapter in Darwin.

They will hold their first meeting next month.

To attend, call 1800 227 772.