I have missed many people who I've talked to online who just disappeared. I always believed that they weren't supposed to be talking to me online to begin with because those were the only people who disappered. Besides the one who passed one too and that's why I never heard from him, the other people should not have been talking to me about what they were talking to me about.
And the one person who truly mattered to me even though we lost contact for approx 18 years and I thought for sure would never talk to me again once I confessed that I am what he would have considered to be "an apostate", never stopped talking to me and never lost contact with me.
But YES,I did feel a true and heartfelt sadness when a couple of people just vanished that I used to talk to as posters online. And I do miss a few posters who just disappered from this board with no warning or should i say without a goodbye? It has happened over the years I have been here.