Updated: THE SISTER of a missing man has made a passionate appeal for information about her brother’s whereabouts.

Sam Winstone longs to see the return of her sibling Adam Wilmott, 43, who went missing in Swindon nearly seven years ago. He was last seen leaving the Great Western Hospital in September 2011.

Although homeless at the time of his disappearance, Adam often stayed at local hostels or with friends but always maintained contact with his family. The Wilmott family tried to find him with help from the Salvation Army at the time of his disappearance but were unsuccessful.

Sam Winstone said: “We are so very desperate to find him. He is missed every day as a son, brother and grandson. Our grandparents are now quite elderly and are desperate to know what happened to their grandson.

“Adam was such a great brother, he would never ever miss a family member’s birthday or anything like that, no matter what his personal circumstances were at the time.”

She reflected on childhood moments spent with Adam: “I was a tomboy so we were always climbing trees and getting up to all sorts of things we probably shouldn’t have been doing. We would go on adventures.”

Adam lost a kidney in a motorbike accident when he was 17 years old. According to his sister, the event damaged his confidence and may have contributed to the development of his alcohol addiction and subsequent homelessness.

Sam said: “He probably never recovered from the accident. He was very bright and did a scholarship when he was 11. Many people he worked with said they could never have hoped to meet a nicer lad. He would work so hard, but he started drinking.

“He very much loved everyone else but he never loved himself. We tried to help him – if only I could’ve said to him, ‘it’s OK.’”

“I put him into new bedsits and he would always say, ‘I’m going to do it this time.’”

Police are working in tandem with the Missing People charity which has distributed posters of Adam in the area. Officers have searched for the missing man near the motorway and in other places where the family say he could have got lost.

Acting police sergeant Mike Armishaw said: “Extensive searches to locate Adam have been carried out and his whereabouts is subject to regular reviews to identify any new lines of enquiry that we are following up.”

Sam Winstone told the Adver: “Hopefully this review will provide answers. I wanted to start the search in a bigger way for my grandparents – it’s so important that we do our best.”

Anyone with information about Adam’s whereabouts is asked to call police on 101, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Information can also be reported online at www.missingpeople.org.uk