Torment of parents with lost loved ones abroad

BERLIN, July 5 (Reuters) Erica Duggan treasures her son's black canvas wallet, found with his body at the side of a busy highway in Germany four years ago. It is one of the last tangible connections she has with him.

Like Kate McCann, who clutches her missing four-year old daughter Madeleine's pink toy cat at news conferences, Duggan is holding on to the shreds of evidence of a child she lost in mysterious circumstances.

But unlike Madeleine's disappearance -- which triggered a massive search campaign backed by high-profile figures including David Beckham, J K Rowling and Pope Benedict and pledges of over 2.6 million pounds in reward money - 22-year-old Jeremiah's death has gone largely unexplored.

The British student was attending a conference in Wiesbaden, Germany and telephoned his mother in a state of panic, saying he was ''in big trouble'' around 35 minutes before his body was found.

Any parent would be desperate to find out what happened, but the ordeal is worsened by the difficulties of dealing with a foreign system.

''We are people in torment,'' Duggan told Reuters by phone from London, where she lives. ''There is the terrible suffering because of the loss, but in addition, there is all the pain of being in a foreign country because you don't have the support which you need.'' Unlike Madeleine's case which attracted international media coverage, financial backing and political support, most such cases go unheard of.

The UK National Missing Persons Bureau estimates 210,000 people are reported missing each year in Britain alone, of which around four per cent are missing abroad.

According to Marsha Gilmer-Tullis from the US-based National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: ''Nobody knows how many children go missing abroad worldwide. There are very few statistics.'' HURDLES Faced with practical hurdles like language barriers, red tape and spiralling lawyers' fees, many parents lack the means to stop their child's case from fading into obscurity. Many more still lack the means to mount a campaign in the first place.

''Even with the best will in the world, I don't see how you could start a battle without money,'' said Briton Tim Blackman, who organised a high-profile campaign to find his daughter Lucie, 21, who went missing in Japan in 2000.

''A flight to Tokyo costs around 1,300 pounds,'' he said.

Erica is still campaigning to have her son's death investigated: German police declared it a suicide and did not look further, as suicide is not considered a crime in Germany.

A retired teacher, she had to sell her house to fund the campaign: ''Those funds ran out. Now I rely on donations.

''I had to commission and translate forensic reports by independent experts. A court-certified translation costs over 1,000 pounds (2,000 dollars). It has taken me a while to get the money together ... I hope it's not too late,'' she said in a weak, exhausted voice.

Parents' feelings of helplessness are exacerbated by the labyrinth of foreign legal systems and police structures, which cloud their search for information.

In a situation where time is of the essence, confusion can be a question of life or death. Erica immediately called British police and was transferred to several different offices but local German police in Wiesbaden were not alerted in time.

TRAPPED BETWEEN SYSTEMS Like other parents, Erica is trapped in a gap between official systems of different countries.

Although a British inquest rejected the German police conclusion of suicide, the British Foreign Office says its hands are tied.

''We cannot interfere with the legal system of another country,'' a spokesperson said.

The foreign office is also withholding details of an official report about the death, saying they might ''prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and other states (and/or international organisations). In this case with the German police.'' Duggan feels: ''They have put the diplomatic relations of a country over the human rights of an individual.'' The media and politicians have in the past successfully put pressure on foreign authorities to push forward high-profile cases.

British Members of Parliament wore yellow ribbon badges in a show of support for the campaign for Madeleine McCann.

''In retrospect,'' said Tim Blackman of his daughter's case, ''the role of the press was vital.

''Without the pressure, there may have been no investigation at all. We had to put pressure on a completely foreign, alien police force to create the sort of investigation which we would expect in the UK.'' Seven months into his campaign, in February 2001, Lucie Blackman's body was found in a seaside cave. On April 24, 2007, after a six-year court battle, Joji Obara was acquitted of the drugging, rape and murder of Lucie Blackman. Her father is appealing the verdict.

For him, as for Erica and the McCanns, the battle is far from over. But giving up is not an option.

''My son is dead,'' Erica said. ''Now I have to be his voice.'' REUTERS AGL BD1515