My brother vanished from a Christmas party – his search was ruined by TWO key errors… 2 years later I have no answers

A MAN whose brother went disappeared from a Christmas party two has claimed cops made two crucial mistakes during the search.

Daniel Hives, then 28, disappeared after leaving a house party in Lancaster on December 10, 2022.

Robbie Hives

Robbie Hives

Alison Stow

He had run from the property along the River Lune after becoming involved in a fight – though the others involved were later discounted from the investigation.

Daniel was never heard from again, with almost no new leads over the 26 months since his disappearance.

But his brother Robbie, 25, thinks things could have been different.

He claimed the river was not searched for the next 11 days following Daniel’s disappearance, a claim disputed by police.

Robbie told the Sun: “I do think it was a disservice that it took them 11 days to get in there.

“I was originally told that the river had frozen, which I later found out from an officer had not happened in the 40 years he’d worked there.”

However, a spokesperson for Lancashire Constabulary told the Sun that the river was searched by Lancashire Fire and the Rescue Service swift water team on December 15 – three days after Daniel went missing.

A spokesperson added: “The river banking was also extensively searched by officers on foot and with search dogs.”

Robbie also believes that a vital piece of information was omitted by cops in the missing person appeals.

He added: “It never stated that he had two tracksuits on. He was wearing a khaki green Under Armour one underneath a Hugo Boss blue one. The reports only talked about the navy blue one, which was on the CCTV.

“We tried to make it public knowledge as soon as we could. Because obviously, if he has decided to run, you know, and he has decided to go missing himself, the first thing he’d have done was take his clothes off and change his appearance.

“We thought that was definitely a big key bit of information that actually, 20 people might have seen him but not realised they’d seen him because he wasn’t wearing the clothes that matched the description. That was a little bit disheartening.”

In response to this, the force said that they were not aware of the detail until much later.

The spokesperson said: “Regarding the tracksuit, the information about Daniel wearing a second tracksuit was only communicated to us on 26/3/2023, so wasn’t included in the five missing from home appeals which went out in December 2022.”

Harking back to his childhood, Robbie said he and Daniel were practically inseparable.

“We were always really, really close with each other”, he said.

Daniel was a happy-go-lucky type, who never shied away from adventure.

“He was the one that kind of held us all up,” Robbie added. “Any time that we were down or anything, he’d be the one trying to cheer you up and make you laugh.

“You could never be dull around him. And I know for a fact, he obviously carried that through all the way, all the way up until obviously he went missing.

“And obviously, I hope he’s still got that in him now.”

Robbie Hives

Robbie Hives

About ten years ago, Daniel made the decision to move to Preston in Lancashire to “search for bigger and better things”.

Although the close-knit brothers now lived miles away from each other, they always kept in regular contact.

“We always knew where each other were and that each other was safe.”

“We would text near enough every day. We’d see each other on special holidays.”

Daniel’s twenties were not without trouble, and he spent some time in prison.

But, the year of his disappearance, the brothers were on as good terms as ever.

Shortly before the events of December 10, they had even been organising how they would get together for Christmas.

By this point, Robbie was living in Newbury, Berkshire, working as an operator at a local fairground.

It was there that he received the devastating phone call that Daniel had gone missing.

“It was a normal day at the fairground, quite jolly, quite Christmassy, Christmas music everywhere. And then I got a text a message request come through from who I eventually found out was Daniel’s girlfriend to say that she needed to talk to me in private.

Robbie Hives

Robbie Hives

“So I went and spoke to my boss, asked to leave for a minute, and that’s when I found out that Dan had been reported missing.

“I shut down, to be quite honest. I didn’t ring anybody. I didn’t talk to anybody. I just needed that moment to kind of process what actually was just said to me.

“It was really hard. There are so many emotions going through your head. You’re thinking of how you’re going to find him and how you’re going to actually get to him. You don’t even know where to start.

“I rang a few of his friends that I knew from previous years because I was in disbelief. I didn’t believe that this could have ever happened to someone like him.

“I was like, is this actually true? What is actually going on?” Then I got the number of the CID because I wanted to talk to them and figure out what was going on.”

Two years since then, Robbie has been forced to confront the possibility that Daniel has come to serious harm.

“I sadly don’t believe he is still with us. Obviously, I’ve got that bit of hope because there is no confirmation of anything. But yeah, I do believe that maybe the worse has comes to the worst.

“And plus, I know it sounds a bit silly, but it’s better to think of worst, yeah and be pleasantly surprised, than hope and pray for the best and be even more distraught late down the line.”

But despite his suspicions, the devoted brother continues to raise awareness about Daniel’s disappearance on birthdays and anniversaries.

At the latest event, he was amazed by the outpouring of love for Daniel.

“It shocked me, you know, in a lovely way, it shocked me to see how much support he did have and how many people obviously cared about him.”