‘It's like ... it's a void that you hope one day you can fill but yet, you don't want to, you know?’ her mum Sandi said in an emotional interview with New Idea Investigates.
‘You want to fill it with positive, not negative. And that's the hard thing. Sometimes I think I'm in a club with people I don't want to be in a club with.
‘People who have had family missing for 20 years and sometimes you think, "Wow, I'm not in such a bad position." And you can be sympathetic to them and then other days you think, "No, this is about me, this is about my daughter, this is about Leisl.
‘I want to feel bad today for me because I don't care how other people feel. I feel bad. And it's my day, it's my turn.’
And Sandi had a message for anyone who has information on her daughter’s whereabouts.
‘You don't have to say who you are, just tell me where she is,’ Sandi pleaded.
For more on the baffling real life case of missing Leisl Smith listen to the What have you done with her? podcast from New Idea Investigates. Available on OMNY and iTunes.
If you have information relating to this case please contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000