A FATHER from Bangor whose daughter went missing in Holyhead three years ago fears it will take another person to go missing before North Wales Police learn lessons.

Gerry Maguire, whose daughter Catrin went missing on November 15, 2021 described engaging with the police on his daughter's disappearance like “trying to get blood out of a stone”, adding that “they were very difficult to deal with”.

Mr Maguire spoke to S4C’s current affairs programme, Y Byd ar Bedwar, ahead of the three-year anniversary of his daughter’s disappearance next month.

North Wales Police issued a second apology to the family on the programme, and said it is looking at re-launching the appeal into the case.

On November 15, 2021, Ms Maguire travelled from her home in Bangor to Holyhead by train.

She was seen on a number of CCTV cameras in Holyhead town centre, before being seen for the final time in South Stack that afternoon.

Ms Maguire was wearing a black coat and was carrying a light coloured bag on the day she disappeared.

The following day, after she missed a routine phone call with her family, she was first reported missing.

Mr Maguire said: “The family is still in groundhog day. We haven’t moved on because she’s basically just disappeared without a trace.”

There was a multi-agency effort to try and find Ms Maguire, including search and rescue teams, police coastguards and volunteers.

But Mr Maguire was unhappy with the efforts of the police in the days that followed, adding: “We had no point of contact; what they wanted us to do was just phone 101 for updates.

“I kept having to explain the same thing to different officers every time, because there was no communication between officers.”

On the fourth day of Ms Maguire’s disappearance, Mr Maguire said he received a phone call from an officer he had never met before to explain the police’s hypothesis was that she had died by suicide.

On another occasion, he said an officer came to the house and described to the family what happens to a body that has drowned, causing unnecessary upset to the family.

Mr Maguire said: “That emotionally scarred us for life, hearing that. There was no need for it… I remember it upsetting me and making my wife cry.”

In February 2022, Mr Maguire requested the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigate North Wales Police’s handling of his daughter's case and the way they treated the family, but the complaint was referred back to North Wales Police to be investigated internally.

Last summer, North Wales Police published the report. There were seven allegations put forward by the family, in six of those allegations the service provided by North Wales Police was deemed “not acceptable”.

Three complaints involved officers showing an unprofessional attitude and disrespect towards the family.

Assistant chief constable for North Wales Police, Gareth Evans, told Y Byd ar Bedwar that he recognises how difficult it is for families with people who go missing.

He said: “When somebody goes missing it’s like being in a never ending nightmare isn’t it, and we recognise that and the importance for us is that we communicate well with the families.

“Within the past year specifically we’ve really improved our policy around this, so we do have a single point of contact for families and they know who’s going to keep them updated about their cases.

“(On) day one, it would be clear who's going to contact them and keep them updated in relation to the investigation.

“We have made a lot of changes in how we deal with cases of people who go missing, a lot of training has come in, and the policy has changed regarding a point of constant contact with the police.

“Specifically in Catrin’s case, we have apologised to the family and I’ll repeat that apology here, we are sorry for the service that they received.

“We are looking to re-launch the appeal (into Catrin’s case) to try to get more information out of the community.”

 You can watch the full programme on Y Byd ar Bedwar on S4C at 8pm on October 21.