TRISH Cooper still writes her big brother a birthday card every year.

But today is the third successive occasion Steven Cooper will not be there to receive it.

Mr Cooper vanished apparently without trace from his Golcar home on his 47th birthday exactly three years ago.

As his family prepare to mark his 50th birthday, they still have no idea if he is dead or alive.

Trish, 42, said: “More often than not I think he is still alive.

“There are times when I don’t but you can never give up hope. The same thing all families of missing people have in common is that you never give up hope.

“I’ve got him a birthday card – I always get him a Christmas card too.

“It will go with all the others I’ve bought in the last three years.

“I’ll be having a little drink for him as well.

“If he comes home, he needs to know we’ve been thinking of him.”

Mr Cooper disappeared from his Scar Lane home at about 3am on January 21, 2008.

He left his driver’s licence, passport, bank cards and more than £100 in cash at home.

He did not even take a change of clothes. There was no note to say where he had gone.

His abandoned car was discovered in a remote area near Loch Laggan in northern Scotland.

Despite a major search operation and a campaign that saw his photograph featured on millions of milk cartons, he has never been found.

Trish, of New Mill, said her brother had already spoken about plans for his 50th birthday.

“He was going to have a joint party with his friend’s wife,” she said.

“We can’t do that now and she’s not going to have a big celebration, just a few friends.”

Trish, who has become an official family representative for the charity Missing People, said recent months had been particularly difficult following the death of her father, Don, 72, shortly before Christmas.

She added her brother’s absence was painful for his son Nathan, 22, who is about to become a father.

“Steve is going to be a granddad to a baby girl and he’s not going to be here to see it.

“He always joked he never wanted to get old and be a grandfather, but he always wanted a little girl.”

A publicity campaign featuring Mr Cooper will run in the Daily Mirror today and has already appeared in the Big Issue.

Trish added: “If he is out there somewhere, we need to keep reminding him that he is loved and that we want him back”.