Kevin Fasting Senior was 49 when he went missing from his parents' home in Aigburth more than 20 years ago. Despite extensive searches and decades of media appeals, he has never returned home. He left his parents at their home on Aigburth Road, near Aigburth Vale, on Friday, November 21, 2003. Kevin Snr had started a new job in Bootle delivering meals on wheels just a week previously.
Last Sighting and Immediate Search
On the morning of his disappearance, Kevin Snr left the house to go to work and was seen shortly after by a neighbour at a nearby bus stop. The neighbour offered Kevin Snr a lift to work but he declined. This was the last confirmed sighting of him, as he did not arrive for work.
Speaking to the ECHO this week, his son, Kevin Fasting Jnr, recalled the huge search for his dad in the days after he disappeared. The 43-year-old said: "The week after he went, I remember I was down the (Otterspool) prom and on the Mersey, looking in some of the outhouses. The helicopters were going by looking for him as well. It was quite intensive. I was too young to drive then, but I was going around in one of my mate's cars, and we were driving around all night for seven days, looking for him. But obviously as time passes, the likelihood of just finding him on the street gets less and less."
Description and Personal Details
Kevin Snr is described as white, 5' 10", of medium build, with blue eyes and short brown hair. He also has a Liver Bird and LFC tattoo on his lower right arm. He was wearing a black trouser suit, a white long-sleeved shirt with a yellow tie, a grey fleece jacket, a dark green hooded trench coat, and size eight Clarks blue lace-up shoes and blue or brown jeans. Kevin also wore a distinctive LFC watch with a silver strap and was carrying £30 in cash. He was a massive Liverpool fan who went to the club's first four European Cup finals from 1977 to 1984.
Mental Health Struggles and Note
As time went on, he began to struggle with his mental health. Not long before his disappearance, Kevin Snr tried to take his own life. The night before he went missing, Kevin Jnr spoke to his dad over the phone and sensed he had a low mood. Kevin Jnr was in Leeds attending university at the time. Kevin Snr left a note behind for his son and his daughter Becky. The note said he was sorry, that he'd let them down and that his children would be better off without him.
Kevin Jnr says his dad's mental health issues reflect attitudes of the time. He said: "I'm 43 now going on 44. My dad was 49 when he went away so I'm starting to probably get the same thoughts and feelings that he would have around then - you've got responsibilities to look after your family. Back in those days, you couldn't talk to anyone. I can understand the place he was in and in the early 2000s, it was more difficult to speak to someone about it. You'd bottle everything up yourself. I didn't know that he was struggling to get to that level."
Legacy and Business Empire
Despite repeated appeals, a lot of the information Kevin Jnr has received about his dad has gone nowhere. He has accepted that he will probably never see his dad again, but believes he has managed to build a business empire in his memory. Kevin Jnr, who now splits his time between Liverpool and London, said: "(The trail has) gone cold to be fair. Usually every year the media picks it up. There's been a couple of years where we do get a few people reaching out but to no avail. But to be honest, the last five years there has been absolutely nothing. It's obviously a very long time ago, before CCTV and everything. It's still just a complete mystery where he went and what happened."
"I set up my first business (a legal firm) and I called it Kevin Edwards, named after my dad. The idea was to advertise on bus stops and use the revenue to bring him home that way. But then what I didn't expect was where it would end up. We've got around 300 staff now across multiple groups and industries. It's the Kevin Edward Group, a group of companies. So what I try and do now is use his name at any public speaking events and things like that. It's to keep his name out there. There's still a slight chance that it could bring him home, but the more likely thing is that it's about his legacy now. People can't forget him. I can't forget him. My kids can't forget him. They're going to hopefully be inheriting the company one day and taking the reins in the name of my dad."
Appeals and Contact Information
If you think you have seen Kevin, you can submit the sighting online via the Merseyside Police Report a Sighting Portal or call 101. People can visit Kevin's appeal on the Missing People website, from where they can report a sighting, download his missing appeal as a poster, and share it via Facebook, Twitter, and in public spaces. You can call them on 116 000 or email 116000@missingpeople.org.uk.
