A WIDOW says it is her dying wish to find out what happened to her grandson who went missing 25 years ago today.

Dorothy Hicks is making a fresh appeal for information to find out what happened to Kevin Hicks, who vanished without a trace from his home in Addiscombe, Croydon, in 1986.

It was at around 8.40pm on March 2 when Kevin, 16 at the time, popped out to the corner shop to buy eggs for a cookery exam the next day.

Despite having nothing more than a pound in his pocket, Kevin never returned home.

A police investigation, door-to-door enquiries and an appeal on Crimewatch failed to generate any solid leads leaving his family clueless as to what had happened to him.

CCTV from the shop was not working and staff could not remember seeing Kevin.

His parents Terry and Derek have since died of cancer and his grandfather Phillip has also passed away, leaving Dorothy and his uncle Alan to carry on the search.

Mrs Hicks said: “It’s been dreadful.

“You just can’t put it out of your mind.

“God forbid if anything had happened, but it’s better to know than not to know.”

News Shopper: Kevin Hicks, aged 16 (left) and a computer generated image of what he might look like aged 28

Kevin, who would now be 41, was doing well at school and had applied for jobs which he was offered interviews for after he had gone missing.

He had no problems at home and had a part time job at a supermarket.

Great grandmother-of-two Mrs Hicks said: “I just feel if someone sees this it might jog their memory.

“We never lose hope. If someone knows anything, no matter how little, please come forward.

“I just can’t let it go, it’s my main wish now to know where he is or what happened before I pop off.”

His uncle Alan, aged 58, from Swanley, said: “It’s the biggest mystery of my life.

“We have absolutely no idea what happened.

“I know he wasn’t going to go out that night. It was only because he had an exam.

“He only went out with a pound in his pocket.

“They said someone saw him in Addiscombe Road that evening, but that’s as far as we know.”

Alan, who lives in Swanley Lane and had a close relationship with his nephew, said: “Personally I think he would have got in touch with me if there was a problem that night.

“Every day it’s always at the back of your mind.

“When anyone goes missing or a body is found, it’s there all the time.

“If anybody does know anything about it then please come forward. Twenty five years is a long time so if anybody does know, and if they have a conscience, it will be driving them up the wall.”

Anyone with any information about Kevin’s disappearance should call the National Missing Persons Helpline on 0500 700 700.