Mr Fenwick turns 36 in a few Saturdays' time on August 21 and his mum, Debbie, is coming to terms with the prospect of spending another milestone without him.

"He's really missed a lot," Ms Fenwick told the Newcastle Herald on Tuesday, during National Missing Persons Week.

"He has always helped people who needed help when they ask.

"[On his birthdays] I just sit and think on what I can do to help find him so it gives our family closure."

Mr Fenwick, known by some as Feno, went missing from Stockton in early 2019.

Investigators believe Mr Fenwick was the victim of a suspected homicide and in January 2020 announced a $500,000 reward for information leading to the case being solved and closure being brought to his family.

That reward remains on offer.

He was last seen leaving a bus on Nelson Bay Road at Fern Bay about 1pm on January 30 2019 and was reported missing the following day.

The Newcastle Herald reported previously that investigators found some of Mr Fenwick's personal items in the sand dunes at Stockton beach.

Police have conducted several searches and detectives set up Strike Force Kummari to investigate what happened to Mr Fenwick, but he has been missing for more than two-and-a-half years.

"I have trouble sleeping - it's always the thought of what really happened to him," Ms Fenwick told the Herald on Tuesday.

"I'd like to find the people who did this. Why would it happen to him?"

According to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Missing Persons Register, there are at least 29 people unaccounted for across the Hunter and Central Coast.

Those on the register are long-term missing persons, meaning they have not been seen for at least three months. Many have been missing for years or even decades.

Zac Barnes, Dylan Dickie, Amanda Robinson, Robyn Hickie, Gordana Kotevski, David Webber, Lawrence Anderson, Rhydian Trent Morgan, Christopher Chillingworth, Michael Fowler and Patrick Thaidy are just some of the names on the register with a link to the Hunter.

More than 51,000 missing persons reports were made across Australia in 2020, according to the AFP.

There are about 2500 people on the long-term missing persons register nationwide.

Anyone with information that could help in the search for a missing person can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Information can be passed on anonymously using the Crime Stoppers phone line or internet reporting portal.

This year's National Missing Persons Week runs until August 7.

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