CHRISTMAS will be incomplete for some families because a loved one is missing.

That’s why the Echo is making a special festive appeal for our readers to help find four West Dorset residents.

We are appealing for fresh information on their whereabouts on behalf of Missing People in a bid to get families reunited for the festive season.

Some of the men and women we are searching for have been missing for years while others have disappeared without trace more recently.

Missing People, formerly the National Missing Persons Helpline, attempts to help find missing people from all over the country.

A spokeswoman said: “This time of year can be particularly difficult for those who face the pain of a loved one going missing. Missing People offers a lifeline to the more than 250,000 people that go missing or disappear every year.

“For the families left behind, we provide specialised support to ease the heartache and confusion and help search for their missing loved one.”

* Call Dorset Police in confidence on 01305 222222 or the Missing People helpline on 0500 700 700

MISSING: Cheryl Franks

A WEYMOUTH family is pleading for their missing loved one to ‘Please come home for Christmas.’ They are growing increasingly concerned that former ballerina Cheryl Lesley Franks has not been in contact since she left for Australia to go on a yoga retreat five years ago.

Her brother Jason Franks, 41, of Chickerell Road, Weymouth said: “Cheryl has always been independent but she’s always kept in touch.

“She was a professional ballerina who travelled all around the world but she used to send letters or postcards, emails and photos or do a quick phonecall and we’d ring her back.

“The last we heard she was off to Hobart, Australia to do a yoga course at a Buddhist temple, that was 2005 and we’ve not heard a dickie bird since.

“I don’t want to think the worst but it’s always at the back of your mind.

“It would be absolutely great if she got in contact this Christmas.”

Mr Franks said he and his older brother Adrian had contacted the police, the Australian embassy and Salvation Army about their concerns but without success.

Searches on the internet had proved fruitless and emails sent to Miss Franks have bounced back.

Mr Franks said: “The police can’t help because as far as I know she’s not in England.

“The Australian embassy said ‘the name had not come to their knowledge’.

“Short of going out there for six months and searching, I don’t know what else to do.”

He added: “We just want to make sure she’s alright.

“My mum’s upset that we haven’t heard from her, our dad’s been through a few health problems that she doesn’t know about.

“We’d like to see her or for her to pick up the phone and say hello.”

Mr Franks, who works as a steward for Wolfedale Golf Course, Charminster, said he and his siblings grew up in Southampton.

Miss Franks, now 42-years-old, joined ballet companies all over the world from the age of 18 before becoming a yoga teacher.

Mum Joyce Franks, 66, of Chickerell, said: “We want to know she’s safe and well and to ask her to give us a call.

“That’s the worry because we haven’t heard from her.

“When she went off to the Australian retreat she said she wouldn’t be able to get in touch for a long time but that she would call from Sydney on the odd occasion.

“But five years is too long.”

* Anyone with information is asked to email Mr Franks at jason@isdom.net or to call the Dorset Echo on 01305 830984.

MISSING: Neil Dryden

A MOTHER is desperate to find information on her son who has been missing since April 23 1985.

Neil Dryden was 25 when he disappeared from Swanage and there has been no news since.

Missing People say Neil’s mum is greatly concerned for his welfare as he may be unwell.

“She would love to know what happened to Neil and urges him to contact her, even if it is just to say he is alive and well,” a spokeswoman for Missing People says.

Neil is 5ft 11in tall, with blue eyes. When last seen, Neil had short dark hair and a beard. He also used to wear glasses.

MISSING: Michael Laing

DORSET Police are appealing for help to get a missing pensioner home for Christmas.

Michael George Laing, who would be 75 years old and lived alone, went missing from his home in Harman’s Cross, between Corfe Castle and Swanage.

He was last seen at noon on Thursday, August 6 or Friday, August 7 2009 on South Street in Wareham – his car was later found abandoned on North Street.

Michael is 5ft 8ins tall, of slim build with a gaunt appearance and greying hair. He was last seen wearing a v-neck lightweight grey jumper and stained light blue denim trousers. He is bow-legged and walks slowly trailing his left leg.

MISSING: Sean Durkin

BEING reunited with Sean Durkin would be a Christmas wish come true for his family.

He has been missing from his home in Burton Bradstock since May 9, 1993. He was 40 and hasn’t been heard of since.

Sean is 6ft 1in with blue eyes and brown hair and this photo, far right, shows how he may have aged.

He had financial worries when he disappeared from his home at the Dove Inn.

Sean and his wife Glenda also ran The Cove House Inn on Portland and the Spice Ship pub in Preston.

Glenda, who now lives in Tamworth, Staffordshire, has rebuilt her life with the help of Missing People and the Salvation Army.

She has never give up hope of finding him and appeared on BBC TV show Missing to make a renewed appeal to find Sean.

Glenda said: “I just want to know what happened. This would really make my Christmas wish come true.

“I still love the memory of him and believe he’s still alive.”

A sighting of Sean was reported in Crete after a nurse on holiday saw his picture.

Mrs Durkin said: “I was shown a picture of the back of his head and I was 99 per cent sure it was him – he had a very distinctive crown.

“But when two journalists working with the Missing Persons helpline went to the bar he was seen working at he had gone.”

Mrs Durkin said the couple’s money worries led to her husband disappearing.

She said: “We were having problems with the pubs and were in danger of losing them.

“He just left one morning to go and see a solicitor in Weymouth and didn’t come back.

“His car turned up at Heathrow Airport the following July and it had £1,000 in fines on it so it had been there for a while.We worked really hard doing things like doing up houses and I didn’t really want to buy The Dove Inn. We lost it shortly after Sean went missing.

“He had been behaving erratically and I think he had a break down.”