The cousin of missing Saltcoats teen Jamie Cannon has issued an emotional plea on national radio this afternoon as the search enters its fifth month.

Jamie was last seen on Thursday, May 20 around 10am on Kinnier Road. He was reported missing on Saturday, May 22.

The 19-year-old is described as being 6ft 1” tall and was wearing grey jogging bottoms, grey trainers, and a blue jacket when he was last seen. He was also carrying a camouflage backpack.

Jamie's cousin Leanne Graham spoke to BBC Drivetime show this afternoon [Tuesday, September 21] about the efforts the family has gone to keep the 19-year-old in the public conscience: "Jamie is a typical young man, he just loved life and going to work at Cecchini's in Ardrossan and relaxing with his friends. He was learning bricklaying in college.

"Lots of friends and a good life.

"It has been absolutely devastating just not knowing where he is. Each day we are just devastated he hasn't turned up at the house again. 

"You just expect one day he will just walk back through the door.

"It is now 123 days since he was last seen."

When asked by presenter John Beattie about what is being done to look for Jamie, Leanne explained the efforts done in the Three Towns to search for her cousin, she said: "The whole family have been going out every day and searching along with the police. 

"We've managed to get a team from Northern Ireland, K9 search and rescue who has been fundraising for as they are a charity. 

"They have got more dogs than Police Scotland, they can cover large areas with dogs instead of relying on one dog."

Much of the search activity has been focused around the former ICI plant in Stevenston, much of which is inaccessible to the public and riddled with dangerous buildings. 

She explained: "The public is not allowed into the ICI in Stevenston that is one of the places being searched, so the Police and the dogs are searching it. It is a dangerous area and we aren't trained to look in that part.

"We went in one time but we got asked to leave because it is dangerous."
Read more: Jamie Cannon: Northern Ireland rescue dogs join hunt for missing teen | Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald (ardrossanherald.com)

Leanne also spoke to the BBC about Jamie's last recorded movements and the reasons for the lack of footage since: "The last time he was seen was about half an hour after he left the house that morning [on May 22].

"He was on his way to college. That was the last sighting, he hasn't been picked up anywhere since. 

"The tapes for the supermarkets nearby were looped over by the time the police got to them. We will never know if he got into a car.

"He hasn't turned his bank card, his phone hasn't been pinged, it was broken and his sim card wasn't put into a new phone."

When asked what she wants and what the public can do, Leanne concluded: 

"I just want everybody to keep sharing the posts about Jamie we put up to try to get him home for Lynn and John and his two brothers.

"His mum is absolutely devastated, she is putting on a brave face but she is crumbling inside not having Jamie home. 

"I just want him to walk through the door or the police find him sitting in somebody's house. 

"Just come home, he won't be in any trouble. We just want him back with his brothers."