Father dies without ever finding out what happened to his daughter who vanished without a trace 27 years ago
Brian Keogh died on Saturday, July 26, aged 69 after suffering with a lung condition linked to his work.
He had fought for the truth about his daughter's death up until his tragic passing.
Donna Keogh was just 17 when she vanished in Middlesbrough on April, 19, 1998 and although her body was never found police believe she had 'come to serious harm'.
A fresh appeal was made for information relating to her disappearance in April this year with Cleveland Police Historic Investigation Unit saying it wasn't too late for people to come forward.
But tragically her father - who had been fighting for answers for 17 years - died without ever knowing the truth.
A former soldier with Green Howards, Mr Keogh worked as a doorman in his younger years and went on to run his own family business in plastering and damp-proofing before retiring just last year.
The father-of-three, whose life was ripped apart when his daughter disappeared relentlessly campaigned to find answers to what happened to his 'bubbly and ambitious' girl.
Mrs Keogh said her husband's death had caused her heart 'to break into a million pieces' - but despite the family's devastating loss, she said she will continue their fight and will never give up hope in finding answers.
The grief-stricken father believed the family were close to finding the truth to what happened to Donna and the day before he died he told his wife he 'still had so much to do.'
'He was hellbent on keeping the fight going,' she told Teesside Live.
'Even the day before he died he kept mentioning it; he just wanted a bit more time. I know he would have wanted me to express his thanks for all the support in Middlesbrough.'
Shirley said the care Mr Keogh received at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, was second to none.
She said: 'The nurses were even phoning up on their days off to check on him.
'He got so much support from everybody and was overwhelmed by it. The last four months got hard for him but he kept fighting - he always stayed fit and looked after himself and they said his physical condition had helped him so much.'
Mr Keogh was a much-loved father-of-three to Brian Jnr, 48, Michael, 43, and Donna and a treasured grandad of Chanyce, 24, Jimmy, 20, and Tia-Rose, 18.
Mr and Mrs Keogh have always always maintained it was their family and the people of Middlesbrough who have kept them going as they battled for answers following the devastating loss of their daughter.
In a post on Facebook sharing the tragic news, Chanyce said Brian was the most important man in all their lives. 'We will never understand why but have the comfort in knowing he's back in the arms of his beautiful daughter Donna and is out of pain,' she wrote.
'He was one in a million and we will never, in this life or the next, meet anyone like him. He wasn't just our grandad, he was our dad, best friend and our hero.'
Donna had dreamed of joining the Royal Navy and following in the footsteps of her father who took the Queen's Shilling at 15 years old and served with the Green Howards, leaving military college with diplomas.
His brother was an officer, his father a submariner during the Second World War, and his grandfather served with the Irish Guards in the First World War.
Mrs Keogh is currently organising her husband's funeral and the details will be shared when they are arranged. 'The day before he made sure we knew what he wanted and wrote it all down,' she said.
'He wants the Union Jack flag on his coffin and he will get a bugler. Everything he wanted he will get because he deserved it.'
Mr and Mrs Keogh had longstanding complaints against Cleveland Police over the handling of the daughter's case. Last seen at a house party on Bow Street, Donna's body has never found but it is believed she was murdered.
They have been supported by Teesside solicitor Simon Walker who they instructed to help as they took their complaints further. Brian was always keen to express his thanks to Mr Walker for his help.
Paying his own tribute, Mr Walker told Teesside Live: 'The impression I always got of him was he was a gentle man in the truest sense of the word. He spoke straight and spoke his mind but he was always polite and respectful, and thankful and appreciative of anything anybody seemed to do for him.
'He did contact me a while ago to say there was some movement, he thought. That is the ultimate tragedy that he hasn't lived long enough to see a resolution of this.
'He was old school, ex-forces and we used to have long chats because some of my friends and family are ex-forces.' Mr Walker also said he he remained determined to continue helping Donna's family find answers.
In 2018, Donna's family's hopes were raised after her disappearance was reinvestigated following an injection of £3.77million in fund by the Home Office.
Alongside the renewed efforts by police, a site was launched to help the search called FindDonna with information shared to thousands of people.
However the investigations failed to yield results and the family have continued to fight for justice.
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