Rachel Pickthall has been birdwatching for as long as she can remember. It's a passion she shared with her older brother Simon and as children, the pair spent many an evening together camped out in their back garden, bird guide in one hand and binoculars in the other.
In late December 2013, Simon, then aged 48, travelled to Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast, the UK's largest mainland seabird colony. The last few years hadn't been kind to him. His marriage had broken down and he had recently been diagnosed as bipolar. At the time, Rachel was living in Dubai, over 5,000 miles away. That's where she was when she got the phonecall telling her that Simon's beloved campervan had been found abandoned in the sanctuary's car park and that her brother was nowhere to be found.
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This episode is presented by Pandora Sykes
https://www.instagram.com/pandorasykes
The Missing is a What's The Story? original
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The series is made with the support of two amazing charities, Missing People and Locate International
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This episode was first produced in conjunction with Podimo
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