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[tense music playing]
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[narrator] Every 90 seconds,
someone is reported missing.
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Many return to their families,
but for others,
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something has gone seriously wrong.
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A young woman has disappeared
on her way home from work.
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[John] We started ringing around
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hospitals, our friends.
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[Gaynor] I thought, "Oh, my God,
something's happened."
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That's when I went into panic, then.
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[narrator] This is no ordinary
missing person's inquiry.
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[Tom] It was a very,
very unusual investigation.
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{\an8}[narrator] What happens
in the police investigation that follows?
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[Charles] There were human hairs trapped
in the knot in the electric flex,
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and it also had bite marks in it.
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[narrator] What happens
to the family at its heart…
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I would rather be the mother
of a murdered child,
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than be the mother of a murderous killer.
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[narrator reading]
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Helen was a much-wanted baby.
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When I got married,
I couldn't wait to be a mom,
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and when she was born,
she was just amazing.
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She was mischievous.
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She'd take the mickey out of everyone.
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She loved her family.
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Michael, her brother, when he was born,
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{\an8}he wasn't my baby, he was her baby,
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{\an8}and she always had that nursing
instinct in her, you know?
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{\an8}[John] I did meet Marie,
and we obviously started
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{\an8}getting… into a serious relationship.
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{\an8}She had the two children,
she was divorced, I was divorced.
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I always said that the children
came first with Marie.
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I think Helen, uh, initially,
building that relationship
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was a little difficult,
but once you got to know her,
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she was a great girl, full of life,
you know, she bikes with friends.
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{\an8}She was never cheeky.
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{\an8}-She was always full of fun, wasn't she?
-Yeah.
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And if you had anything on that she liked,
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-she'd borrow it.
-[chuckles] Oh, yeah.
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[John] We did have nights out together,
her and her boyfriend, Marie and myself,
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and now just had a very good relationship.
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And she always said
she was looking forward
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to being a bridesmaid at our wedding,
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and, uh, sadly, she wasn't.
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[narrator] 22-year-old insurance clerk,
Helen McCourt
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is looking forward to a night out
with new boyfriend, Frank.
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[Gaynor] Helen and I worked together
in the Royal Insurance,
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{\an8}and she phoned me up
numerous times during the day,
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{\an8}because she was going out
with a new boyfriend that night,
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{\an8}and she was really excited,
and she kept phoning me up saying,
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"Do you think I should wear this outfit?"
Then she phoned me back 10 minutes later,
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"I've changed my mind, what do you think
of this outfit I should wear?"
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And she was just so excited
about getting out that evening.
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[Marie] She was just her normal self.
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You know, she caught her bus,
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her train, she went in to work.
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She'd rung me three times from work.
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[Charles] She had planned to meet her mom
in the city center for lunch,
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{\an8}but the weather was so dreadful,
that that was canceled.
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{\an8}However, the rest of the working day
continued as planned,
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and the intention was,
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she was going to be coming
home at tea time,
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at the normal time,
uh, because she had a date
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with her new boyfriend
at about eight o'clock.
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[Gaynor] And it was terrible weather,
and it was really, really windy,
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so if you didn't have to go out,
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you wouldn't really have
gone out that night,
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but obviously she was looking forward
to going out with a new boyfriend,
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so, she was going to go,
no matter what the weather was like.
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[Marie] And it got to about 5:40,
and she still wasn't there,
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and, I heard on the news that the trains
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from Lime Street to Wigan had been delayed
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because a tree had blown on the line.
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So I relaxed then, because I thought,
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"Oh, that's the reason
why she's a bit late."
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And then when I got here, Marie said,
"Oh, she's not… Helen's not got home,"
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but, with the weather,
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immediately thought,
well, there's bound to be
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some disturbance, you know,
with public transport, 'cause she travels.
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But, as the minutes ticked by,
and Helen failed to arrive,
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she became increasingly concerned.
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[Marie] And so we waited and waited.
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Uh, Michael was working,
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and when he came in,
I said, "Is Helen with you?"
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And he said, "No, Mom,
I've not heard from her,"
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so, that's when I went into panic, then.
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If she missed her train
at Lime Street Station in Liverpool,
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she'd go to the call box
and ring me and say,
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"Mom, I just missed me train," she'd say,
"so I'll be 15 minutes late."
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[John] Helen was always making Marie
aware of where she was,
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what time she'd be home.
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She would have rung her mother,
because that's what she did.
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[Charles] Concerned that Helen
might've suffered
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some kind of accident
due to the high winds
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that were battering
the Northwest at the time,
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she, uh, she became
increasingly concerned
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that something serious had happened.
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[John] We started ringing
around hospitals, our friends.
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[Gaynor] I just… I thought,
"Oh, my God, something's happened.
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She must've had an accident
on the way home
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because the weather was so bad.
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[John] We couldn't understand
if she had called in anywhere,
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because she was so adamant
about getting home.
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[Charles] Eventually they decided
after drawing a blank
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to retrace Helen's journey
to see if there were any incidents
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on the route back towards Liverpool
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that could account for her disappearance.
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[John] Frank, Marie
and myself went in the car,
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went to Royal Insurance,
tracked from the Royal Insurance
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to the underground, uh, station,
no sign of her.
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Lime Street Station,
checked with the railway people,
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yes, the trains were still running fine.
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And that's when I think
we started worrying,
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and we immediately said,
"Right, we'll go round
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to Copperas Hill Station
and report her missing."
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[Tom] When a person
is reported missing from home,
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depending on the circumstances,
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{\an8}for example, if a person went out
to the pub for a night
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{\an8}with a gang of people,
and didn't come home,
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and the parents reported them missing,
it might be unusual for the parents,
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but there might be background
circumstances why they didn't come home,
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for example, the met somebody,
gone back to their place.
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So initially, most inquiries we would say,
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uh, leave it for 24 hours or so
to see if they came back,
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and if they didn't,
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then depending on the circumstances
of how they went missing,
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then, the case would build,
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the approach
to the missing person would build.
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Well, we knew the basic facts
that she'd been going home,
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because we knew she was due to go out,
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and that she just hadn't turned up,
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so, those circumstances
were very, very unusual.
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[Gaynor] We just expected to hear
that she'd be found somewhere injured.
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Obviously there's no mobile phones
in those days,
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so, communications took
a little longer to get through,
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so we just assumed she'd be found
in a hospital somewhere,
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or-- and everything could come to light.
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[Charles] And the police, to their credit,
responded extremely quickly,
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considering it was an adult,
and she'd been missing for so little time.
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[Marie] I was getting really
upset by then, you know,
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because it was coming up
to near ten o'clock at night,
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and, I didn't know where she was,
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and, I've always known where she was.
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[John] Marie always knew her timetable,
if you would, a schedule,
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So, you know, we knew
with her not being home,
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something had gone wrong.
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[narrator] Helen's been
missing for four hours.
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Well, I was still hoping
against hope that,
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yes, perhaps she had been injured.
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{\an8}[Charles] The officer that Marie spoke
to at the police station in Liverpool
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was very accommodating and sympathetic,
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and said that she could ring
him every hour from then on,
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uh, to check up with progress.
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[John] Marie was ringing
on the hour, every hour
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till four o'clock
when the two police officers came out.
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[narrator] 22-year-old Helen McCourt
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has vanished on her way home from work.
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{\an8}I was in some fog,
because all as I could think of was,
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{\an8}"Where is Helen?"
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I'm sat in the chair,
looking over towards the window
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with the Venetian blind slightly open,
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and I seen a car pull up outside,
and I thought,
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"Oh, they found her, she's home,"
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and I run to the door,
and the two officers come in,
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and I said, "Where's Helen?"
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And they said, "Well, we've just come
to ask some questions, Mrs. McCourt,"
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you know, so they came in,
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and I just thought,
"Well, they're taking this seriously.
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Something must have happened to her."
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[Charles] This was really the start
of the investigation becoming local,
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{\an8}and another five hours later,
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{\an8}and there were police all over the place
conducting inquiries.
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[Pat] We didn't know until
the following morning.
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Michael phoned up and said,
uh, "Helen's missing."
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{\an8}You just can't take it in when it happens.
You really can't take it in.
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{\an8}I was actually cursing her, to be honest,
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{\an8}I was saying, "For God's sake, Helen,
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you know, phone or something,
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let us know what's-- Where you are."
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But deep down I knew she wouldn't
do anything without telling Marie,
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because her and Marie
were always were very, very close.
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[narrator] Helen's disappearance
is so out of character,
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the police immediately launch an appeal.
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[John] The news broke at ten o'clock
on the Wednesday.
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That went out on the radio.
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{\an8}And, obviously it…
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{\an8}Once that went out,
TV were out as well, you know,
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{\an8}just the general report
that a girl was missing.
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{\an8}The facts were so strange.
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{\an8}She was, she'd contacted
her mother to say,
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{\an8}"I'm coming home, I'm going out."
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Her age, she was a bright girl,
she knew what she was doing,
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and it was just so strange
for her to go missing
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in that short distance
between the bus stop and her home.
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[Gaynor] When you see it come on the news,
you automatically think,
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{\an8}"This is real, now this is real."
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And that's when I thought,
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"Wow, they've- That the police
are moving quickly on this."
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[narrator] Away from the media,
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the police's investigation
is well underway.
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[John] I know that the police, obviously,
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when they have an investigation like that,
they start with the family,
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and work outwards.
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[narrator] The
Serious Crime Squad are involved.
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[Tom] There's no suspects
really missing from home,
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so you speak to the person
reporting it, the family,
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the parents, the brothers,
the sisters, the families,
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and see when they last saw them.
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Obviously, I was interviewed,
Frank was interviewed,
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you know, my movements.
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I do know that the police
went to my place of work,
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went with people
I was working with that evening,
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'cause I worked overtime, and you know,
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and that was disconcerting.
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Luckily, I'd called into my ex-wife
and my two sons' home,
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so they knew what time I'd been there,
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knew what time I'd left,
you know, traveling time,
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so, everything was covered.
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[Tom] The family was distraught.
They don't know where Helen is,
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and they just wanted her found
as quickly as possible.
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[Charles] Once the police had established
that Helen had indeed
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completed her public transport journey,
they then began to focus
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on the very short journey on foot
she would have had to have made
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between the bus stop on Rainford Road,
and her home in Standish Avenue,
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which was only a five-minute walk,
even in bad weather.
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[narrator] The police retrace
Helen's last movements.
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[Tom] She'd provisionally been seen near
where she got off the bus in Billinge.
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[John] We knew it was serious,
you know, when we realized
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how active the police were, you know.
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We could see them in the village,
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they were stopping traffic as well.
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{\an8}You know, "have you seen this girl
hanging posters out?" et cetera.
232
00:13:51,563 --> 00:13:54,643
[Charles] As Billinge woke up
on the Wednesday morning,
233
00:13:55,083 --> 00:13:57,923
the police operation
was really beginning to ramp up.
234
00:13:58,403 --> 00:14:01,003
There were 120 officers
in the town center.
235
00:14:01,723 --> 00:14:05,523
They'd set up an operation
center at the old school hall.
236
00:14:05,883 --> 00:14:09,083
There were divers dispatched
to look in Carr Mill Dam,
237
00:14:09,323 --> 00:14:12,603
and house-to-house inquiries
were being conducted.
238
00:14:12,803 --> 00:14:15,123
[Marie] The police had decided
they were going to search
239
00:14:15,203 --> 00:14:17,803
every house and, uh, building.
240
00:14:19,123 --> 00:14:21,083
[Charles] One of the first
premises they visited
241
00:14:21,323 --> 00:14:24,243
was the George and Dragon Pub
on Main Street,
242
00:14:24,723 --> 00:14:27,603
where they encountered
a man called Ian Simms.
243
00:14:28,603 --> 00:14:32,443
[narrator] Landlord Ian Simms
had taken over the pub a year earlier.
244
00:14:33,643 --> 00:14:35,283
We didn't know the man, really.
245
00:14:35,643 --> 00:14:38,763
Yes, we'd been in his pub
three or four times,
246
00:14:39,283 --> 00:14:42,363
so we, you know, we didn't know
what his character was like,
247
00:14:42,443 --> 00:14:43,563
or anything like that.
248
00:14:44,123 --> 00:14:46,483
The pub was full of young people,
249
00:14:47,083 --> 00:14:49,083
and quite often he'd flirt with them.
250
00:14:49,763 --> 00:14:53,243
Helen wouldn't succumb
to those flirtations.
251
00:14:53,323 --> 00:14:55,723
She just thought
he was a bit of a silly old man.
252
00:14:56,163 --> 00:14:59,323
He did start sending her drinks over,
253
00:14:59,643 --> 00:15:01,683
so, I told the police that.
254
00:15:01,923 --> 00:15:05,003
[Tom] They thought he had a bit
of a unhealthy interest in her.
255
00:15:05,323 --> 00:15:08,243
So after we spoke to the family,
we went down to the George and Dragon,
256
00:15:08,683 --> 00:15:12,163
and saw the landlord in there,
and the manager in there.
257
00:15:12,563 --> 00:15:14,523
We started talking to them,
asking them questions.
258
00:15:14,603 --> 00:15:16,403
Mr. Davis, the SIO was there.
259
00:15:16,883 --> 00:15:21,203
He wasn't happy with the way
Simms was reacting to the questions.
260
00:15:21,683 --> 00:15:24,403
Did he know where Helen was?
When did he last see her?
261
00:15:24,723 --> 00:15:27,603
Any idea where she was?
And of course all this, he would say,
262
00:15:27,683 --> 00:15:30,203
"No, I haven't seen her.
Don't know where she is."
263
00:15:30,363 --> 00:15:34,803
He'd told them he was married,
but he did have a girlfriend.
264
00:15:35,403 --> 00:15:38,803
He was just a bit strange.
He was… You could see he was nervous.
265
00:15:39,283 --> 00:15:41,603
Uh, he was fidgeting, he was twitchy.
266
00:15:41,683 --> 00:15:44,243
You could see his Adam's apple
was bobbing all over the place.
267
00:15:44,323 --> 00:15:46,723
He was, just… He was very, very nervous.
268
00:15:47,123 --> 00:15:50,203
Mr. Davis wasn't happy with them,
and told us to take him
269
00:15:50,283 --> 00:15:52,243
down to the police station
for further interview.
270
00:15:52,563 --> 00:15:54,323
We then became suspicious about him,
271
00:15:54,403 --> 00:15:56,603
about his possible involvement
in Helen's disappearance.
272
00:15:57,003 --> 00:15:58,603
[police siren wailing]
273
00:16:01,403 --> 00:16:04,603
[narrator] Statements are taken
from Ian Simms, his girlfriend,
274
00:16:05,243 --> 00:16:06,443
and the pub manager.
275
00:16:08,003 --> 00:16:10,883
When they then started going over
their statements,
276
00:16:10,963 --> 00:16:12,963
they seen there's a big difference
277
00:16:13,043 --> 00:16:17,403
in the landlord's statement
to the barman's, and the girlfriend's.
278
00:16:17,523 --> 00:16:20,763
Their recollection of the Tuesday evening
279
00:16:21,123 --> 00:16:23,123
was very similar,
280
00:16:24,203 --> 00:16:26,083
but his was totally different.
281
00:16:27,243 --> 00:16:29,323
[narrator] Two days
before her disappearance,
282
00:16:29,683 --> 00:16:31,923
Helen had been
in the George and Dragon Pub.
283
00:16:32,123 --> 00:16:35,723
[Gaynor] The pub was a fun pub,
which were quite common at the time,
284
00:16:35,803 --> 00:16:37,603
so, it attracted a lot of young people.
285
00:16:38,123 --> 00:16:40,963
In this area, that would be,
like, the main place to go.
286
00:16:41,603 --> 00:16:43,683
[John] They used to have
good parties down there,
287
00:16:43,763 --> 00:16:47,163
and you know, theme nights,
stuff like that, discos.
288
00:16:47,483 --> 00:16:50,723
If there was anything going on,
she'd take a camera along.
289
00:16:50,923 --> 00:16:52,763
She'd take pictures of all the people.
290
00:16:53,803 --> 00:16:56,123
[Gaynor] I'd seen Ian Simms in the pub.
291
00:16:57,163 --> 00:16:58,923
She wasn't very enamored with him.
292
00:16:59,883 --> 00:17:01,443
She didn't like his behavior.
293
00:17:01,523 --> 00:17:03,963
He was married, he had a young mistress.
294
00:17:05,243 --> 00:17:09,003
On the Sunday, there had been
some sort of an altercation in the pub.
295
00:17:09,243 --> 00:17:10,803
There was some pictures being shown,
296
00:17:10,882 --> 00:17:14,122
and someone had got upset
about pictures being shown.
297
00:17:14,323 --> 00:17:17,243
A girl had kicked off about the photos
298
00:17:17,323 --> 00:17:19,843
that Helen had of her previous boyfriend.
299
00:17:20,203 --> 00:17:23,843
[Gaynor] I think it had led to a bit
of a scuffle in the ladies' toilets.
300
00:17:24,323 --> 00:17:29,203
And, it resulted in them being told
they'd been barred from the pub.
301
00:17:29,523 --> 00:17:31,283
She told me about it,
and I was very shocked,
302
00:17:31,363 --> 00:17:34,203
'cause it just wasn't Helen
to be getting into fights,
303
00:17:34,283 --> 00:17:36,603
or situations like that,
304
00:17:36,683 --> 00:17:39,523
so, it was so it was out of character
to have been involved in that.
305
00:17:41,843 --> 00:17:44,643
[narrator] It's 48 hours
after Helen's disappearance.
306
00:17:45,123 --> 00:17:48,083
The police are becoming
more suspicious of Ian Simms.
307
00:17:49,483 --> 00:17:52,163
It's the seriousness, not just
an ordinary missing case, now is it.
308
00:17:52,243 --> 00:17:53,843
It's a serious missing person's case,
309
00:17:54,043 --> 00:17:56,403
because we suspect something bad
has happened to Helen.
310
00:17:56,923 --> 00:18:00,203
So we're trying to get out of him
as quickly as possible what he knew.
311
00:18:00,723 --> 00:18:03,483
{\an8}[Charles] Around about the time that
Helen alighted from the bus,
312
00:18:03,563 --> 00:18:06,363
{\an8}a man later told police that he heard
313
00:18:06,443 --> 00:18:10,203
{\an8}the sound of a high-pitched
scream cut off abruptly,
314
00:18:10,403 --> 00:18:13,563
coming from what seemed
to be the rear door
315
00:18:13,643 --> 00:18:15,603
of the George and Dragon Pub.
316
00:18:16,003 --> 00:18:18,803
[Tom] Well, we knew now
that obviously he was, uh,
317
00:18:18,883 --> 00:18:22,243
becoming a suspect in the inquiry,
318
00:18:22,923 --> 00:18:24,523
and that we interviewed him again,
319
00:18:24,603 --> 00:18:27,563
and we told him that his girlfriend
had given a completely different story
320
00:18:27,643 --> 00:18:29,203
about his movements that evening,
321
00:18:29,443 --> 00:18:31,923
and he eventually said,
admitted that he told lies.
322
00:18:32,923 --> 00:18:36,483
[Charles] In the meantime, police began
to focus on the George and Dragon,
323
00:18:36,563 --> 00:18:38,403
starting with the landlord's car.
324
00:18:38,803 --> 00:18:42,283
And it was then that they made
their first big breakthrough,
325
00:18:42,363 --> 00:18:46,923
which was traces of blood,
and an opal and sapphire earring,
326
00:18:47,003 --> 00:18:50,163
found in the boot
of his Volkswagen Passat.
327
00:18:53,523 --> 00:18:56,363
When confronted
with the information about the blood,
328
00:18:56,683 --> 00:18:59,083
uh, Simms at first said
329
00:18:59,163 --> 00:19:02,843
that it must have belong to his dog,
which had cut its paw,
330
00:19:03,363 --> 00:19:07,763
but science was sufficiently
advanced by 1988
331
00:19:08,083 --> 00:19:10,443
for that swiftly to be dismissed.
332
00:19:10,803 --> 00:19:14,683
Two officers, police officers,
plain clothes came,
333
00:19:15,363 --> 00:19:18,163
and they showed me
this plastic vial, you know,
334
00:19:18,243 --> 00:19:21,283
what you see forensic
scientists and medical ones
335
00:19:21,363 --> 00:19:24,283
when they're taking samples,
and they put them in,
336
00:19:24,363 --> 00:19:28,003
and there was an earring in it,
and they said, uh,
337
00:19:28,083 --> 00:19:30,083
"Does this mean anything to you?"
338
00:19:30,203 --> 00:19:35,563
And I just looked at it and I said,
"It's identical to Helen's earring."
339
00:19:35,803 --> 00:19:39,363
And I know Marie asked him,
"Do you think you've,
340
00:19:39,443 --> 00:19:42,323
you know, when do you
think you'll find Helen?"
341
00:19:43,163 --> 00:19:45,923
And they just answered,
"You know, we may never find her."
342
00:19:47,243 --> 00:19:49,163
I think we knew the worst
had happened then.
343
00:19:53,123 --> 00:19:57,723
They now began seriously to suspect Simms,
344
00:19:57,803 --> 00:20:00,243
and he was arrested
on suspicion of murder.
345
00:20:06,123 --> 00:20:08,963
The shock of realizing
what had happened to Helen,
346
00:20:09,763 --> 00:20:12,243
that she was no longer a missing person,
347
00:20:12,603 --> 00:20:14,803
and it was, you know,
a murder investigation.
348
00:20:21,563 --> 00:20:23,963
{\an8}[narrator] Merseyside police
have quickly responded
349
00:20:24,043 --> 00:20:27,043
{\an8}to the disappearance
of 22-year-old Helen McCourt.
350
00:20:27,923 --> 00:20:31,603
Despite no body being found,
critical evidence has led them
351
00:20:31,683 --> 00:20:34,923
to arrest local man Ian Simms
within a matter of days
352
00:20:35,483 --> 00:20:37,003
on suspicion of murder.
353
00:20:37,603 --> 00:20:41,083
{\an8}It must have been devastating
for Marie and the rest of her family
354
00:20:41,203 --> 00:20:42,723
{\an8}to be informed by the police
355
00:20:42,963 --> 00:20:47,323
{\an8}that they were now treating
her disappearance as a murder.
356
00:20:48,003 --> 00:20:51,123
{\an8}When the police came
to see me and informed me,
357
00:20:51,443 --> 00:20:53,963
it was a relief, in a way.
358
00:20:54,243 --> 00:20:59,123
Alls I was thinking of is,
I wanted Helen back, dead or alive.
359
00:20:59,603 --> 00:21:01,283
I wanted my child back.
360
00:21:01,963 --> 00:21:04,243
[Gaynor] Helen's family must
have just been distraught,
361
00:21:04,323 --> 00:21:08,003
'cause they couldn't understand
why he would want to murder Helen.
362
00:21:08,643 --> 00:21:10,083
{\an8}You can't actually believe it.
363
00:21:10,163 --> 00:21:14,323
{\an8}It takes a long, long time before
the reality of that situation hits home.
364
00:21:14,443 --> 00:21:17,683
{\an8}If someone's run over and killed
and you have to go and tell the family,
365
00:21:17,763 --> 00:21:21,723
{\an8}that's bad enough, but to say that Helen
has probably died a violent death.
366
00:21:27,083 --> 00:21:30,803
[narrator] Police are only able
to arrest Simms on suspicion of murder.
367
00:21:30,923 --> 00:21:33,923
Now they need to build
the case to get their man.
368
00:21:34,963 --> 00:21:36,683
We'd arrested him on suspicion.
369
00:21:36,763 --> 00:21:39,203
The hard part then is trying to prove it,
370
00:21:39,283 --> 00:21:43,203
to gather the evidence
to substantiate a charge.
371
00:21:43,803 --> 00:21:47,483
Forensic inquiries
then began to focus on Simms' flat
372
00:21:47,563 --> 00:21:49,323
above the George and Dragon.
373
00:21:49,403 --> 00:21:53,083
And very quickly,
a number of blood traces were found.
374
00:21:53,723 --> 00:21:59,283
One, uh, in the flat itself
had a fingerprint on top of it,
375
00:21:59,363 --> 00:22:02,043
which was later identified as Simms'.
376
00:22:03,123 --> 00:22:05,763
Fibers recovered from Helen's coat
377
00:22:06,323 --> 00:22:10,643
proved to be a perfect match
for those found on the carpet
378
00:22:10,723 --> 00:22:12,523
of the George and Dragon Pub.
379
00:22:13,643 --> 00:22:17,963
The forensic scientist, Dr. Eric Moore,
said there was evidence
380
00:22:18,243 --> 00:22:21,803
that she had been dragged
forcefully across the carpet.
381
00:22:22,523 --> 00:22:26,403
The back of the earring was found,
fibers off her coat.
382
00:22:26,603 --> 00:22:28,683
It all started getting to match.
383
00:22:33,803 --> 00:22:37,563
[Charles] Helen's disappearance had been
given a great deal of media coverage,
384
00:22:37,643 --> 00:22:40,443
both locally, regionally, and nationally.
385
00:22:40,883 --> 00:22:43,283
While the operations
were continuing in Billinge,
386
00:22:43,643 --> 00:22:47,443
uh, 15 miles away on the Manchester
Ship Canal at Hollins Green,
387
00:22:47,723 --> 00:22:51,163
a man was walking his dog
when he came across a bloodied towel.
388
00:22:53,203 --> 00:22:56,243
Walking a little further along,
he found another towel,
389
00:22:56,683 --> 00:23:00,763
and an almost complete set
of men's clothing, including underwear.
390
00:23:01,683 --> 00:23:03,203
[Tom] When the clothing was found,
391
00:23:03,283 --> 00:23:05,723
part of the clothing
was found to be promoting a beer
392
00:23:05,803 --> 00:23:08,963
that at the time was on sale in that pub
in the George and Dragon.
393
00:23:09,043 --> 00:23:13,683
[Charles] Officers removed a bracelet
and two rings from Simms,
394
00:23:13,763 --> 00:23:16,123
and mud was found on there
395
00:23:16,203 --> 00:23:20,563
which matched the mud
at the Hollins Green scene,
396
00:23:20,643 --> 00:23:23,763
and also that found on clothing.
397
00:23:24,923 --> 00:23:26,323
[narrator] 20 miles away,
398
00:23:26,403 --> 00:23:29,883
a young boy notices something strange
by the River Irwell.
399
00:23:32,243 --> 00:23:36,603
[John] He saw some bags stuffed
down the banks of the Irwell.
400
00:23:36,763 --> 00:23:40,363
Looked like a handbag
had just being thrown and burst open,
401
00:23:40,443 --> 00:23:43,603
and a denim jacket hanging in the tree.
402
00:23:44,723 --> 00:23:48,963
And when he comes to look inside the bag,
took it back to his dad,
403
00:23:49,043 --> 00:23:50,603
his dad immediately saw,
404
00:23:51,043 --> 00:23:55,283
uh, an ID card with Helen McCourt on it,
405
00:23:55,363 --> 00:23:57,243
and he said, "That's the missing girl."
406
00:24:02,563 --> 00:24:06,643
[Tom] In the pub, Simms kept a big dog,
I think it was a Rottweiler,
407
00:24:06,923 --> 00:24:11,843
and he used to have it tied up
with a piece of flex electric wiring-
408
00:24:11,923 --> 00:24:13,003
flex-type thing.
409
00:24:13,883 --> 00:24:16,163
When the-
Helen's clothing were found in Irlam,
410
00:24:16,483 --> 00:24:18,483
they found the clothing,
and they found flex.
411
00:24:19,043 --> 00:24:22,843
[Charles] There were human hairs
trapped in the knot in the electric flex,
412
00:24:23,163 --> 00:24:25,923
and it also had bite marks in it,
413
00:24:26,003 --> 00:24:30,123
which were matched
with the teeth of Simms' dog.
414
00:24:33,923 --> 00:24:36,643
[Tom] Me and my partner, Jim Stephens,
415
00:24:37,003 --> 00:24:39,043
we went up to see the family.
416
00:24:39,363 --> 00:24:42,363
We wanted, seemed strange at the time,
but we needed to know,
417
00:24:42,563 --> 00:24:44,003
could we get any DNA samples,
418
00:24:44,563 --> 00:24:48,723
hair, blood, anything which would
get her DNA details,
419
00:24:48,803 --> 00:24:51,203
because DNA was just coming in then,
it was new.
420
00:24:51,763 --> 00:24:55,603
Helen's dad, Billy, her brother, Michael,
and mother, Marie,
421
00:24:55,683 --> 00:24:57,763
had all given samples themselves.
422
00:24:58,403 --> 00:25:01,843
[Tom] And we were looking then
at taking her hairbrush, pillow,
423
00:25:01,963 --> 00:25:04,363
and things like that,
where we could get samples of her hair
424
00:25:04,443 --> 00:25:06,523
and from where we got
a DNA profile for Helen.
425
00:25:07,483 --> 00:25:09,563
They found her clothing,
and they found flex,
426
00:25:09,963 --> 00:25:11,963
and mingled into it were pieces of hair.
427
00:25:12,603 --> 00:25:14,363
So, when that was taken and examined,
428
00:25:14,443 --> 00:25:16,883
they found out that the hair
matched Helen's hair
429
00:25:17,163 --> 00:25:20,763
from the DNA profiling,
and that the flex was the same type
430
00:25:20,843 --> 00:25:23,763
of flex that was used to tie
the dog up in the pub.
431
00:25:24,803 --> 00:25:27,283
We were able to tie the fact
that Helen had been in the pub,
432
00:25:27,363 --> 00:25:30,443
because they found fibers
from the floor carpeting on her coat
433
00:25:30,723 --> 00:25:34,563
linking Helen to the pub,
to Simms, to Simms' clothing,
434
00:25:34,643 --> 00:25:36,323
and Simms to Helen's clothing.
435
00:25:36,683 --> 00:25:38,363
Overwhelming forensic evidence.
436
00:25:39,603 --> 00:25:43,163
So, this was a major,
major case where DNA played
437
00:25:43,323 --> 00:25:47,883
a crucial part in linking the murderer
to the venue, to the victim.
438
00:25:48,243 --> 00:25:52,563
[Charles] The hairs removed from the flex
439
00:25:52,643 --> 00:25:56,363
suggested that Helen
had been strangled with it,
440
00:25:56,603 --> 00:25:58,243
using considerable force.
441
00:25:58,323 --> 00:26:02,363
Some of the hairs were broken,
and others were torn out at the roots.
442
00:26:09,403 --> 00:26:12,843
As the evidence began to build up,
the police must have begun
443
00:26:12,923 --> 00:26:16,043
to realize that they had
a very serious case on their hands.
444
00:26:16,523 --> 00:26:19,043
For Marie, it must have been
absolute agony,
445
00:26:19,323 --> 00:26:21,723
and she was feeling
so powerless at that time.
446
00:26:23,243 --> 00:26:26,883
I just wanted her to be found,
dead or alive.
447
00:26:28,163 --> 00:26:30,563
[narrator] With overwhelming
forensic evidence,
448
00:26:30,643 --> 00:26:34,483
the pressure on the police
to find Helen McCourt intensifies.
449
00:26:34,683 --> 00:26:37,443
Police appealed for the public
to come out and help
450
00:26:37,643 --> 00:26:38,963
in the search for Helen.
451
00:26:39,443 --> 00:26:41,243
This was now a murder inquiry,
452
00:26:41,323 --> 00:26:44,163
so people were made aware
that they would be looking for a body.
453
00:26:46,083 --> 00:26:49,043
[Ian] Uh, we thought that only
the family would turn up,
454
00:26:49,323 --> 00:26:51,363
but, people were coming from everywhere,
455
00:26:51,483 --> 00:26:53,963
{\an8}hundreds of people coming out to help,
456
00:26:54,163 --> 00:26:57,283
{\an8}which I thought was absolutely fantastic.
457
00:27:03,043 --> 00:27:06,723
A little over a year after
Helen McCourt's disappearance,
458
00:27:07,083 --> 00:27:10,443
Ian Simms was in the dock
at Liverpool Crown Court,
459
00:27:11,443 --> 00:27:15,683
and during a 3-week trial,
he continued flatly to deny
460
00:27:15,763 --> 00:27:18,283
that he was responsible for her murder.
461
00:27:18,603 --> 00:27:21,683
He never looked as if
he showed any remorse at all.
462
00:27:22,683 --> 00:27:27,043
You could see in his face,
it was just blank as if,
463
00:27:27,803 --> 00:27:31,243
"Oh, I've done nothing wrong,"
you know, and he just sat there,
464
00:27:31,323 --> 00:27:34,923
and he just completely
ignored everybody else,
465
00:27:35,483 --> 00:27:37,283
and that's the kind of attitude he had.
466
00:27:37,963 --> 00:27:41,523
He was a very cold person.
He obviously had committed a murder.
467
00:27:41,643 --> 00:27:43,563
He wasn't admitting it,
even though there was
468
00:27:43,643 --> 00:27:46,843
overwhelming forensic evidence
linking him to the murder of Helen.
469
00:27:47,443 --> 00:27:50,763
And he was just sat there telling lies,
and that's it, it wasn't him,
470
00:27:51,003 --> 00:27:52,763
having no consideration for the family.
471
00:27:53,163 --> 00:27:57,603
It is, very, very emotional,
plus the fact that
472
00:27:58,283 --> 00:28:02,363
with the courts that small,
473
00:28:02,443 --> 00:28:06,403
you're practically
on top of his family as well.
474
00:28:06,763 --> 00:28:10,683
I thought about his family,
his wife, his mother,
475
00:28:10,843 --> 00:28:14,403
and his two little children,
and I thought,
476
00:28:15,083 --> 00:28:18,483
"I would rather be the mother
of a murdered child
477
00:28:18,923 --> 00:28:21,963
than be the mother of a murderous killer."
478
00:28:23,203 --> 00:28:26,763
[narrator] Throughout the trial,
Simms refuses to give any information
479
00:28:26,843 --> 00:28:28,883
about what he'd done with Helen's body.
480
00:28:30,443 --> 00:28:33,323
I think it's an unreal situation
that you're in.
481
00:28:33,403 --> 00:28:37,763
You don't know how to feel, um…
482
00:28:39,283 --> 00:28:42,643
And it is very, very,
obviously, very emotional,
483
00:28:43,363 --> 00:28:47,643
um, but just wishing all the time
we could get Helen back,
484
00:28:47,723 --> 00:28:50,843
and why will he not tell us
what have you done with her?
485
00:29:02,203 --> 00:29:07,203
[Charles] A jury returned a verdict
after just five and-a-half hours
486
00:29:07,283 --> 00:29:10,523
of deliberations following a 3-week trial,
487
00:29:11,003 --> 00:29:13,843
and it was an emphatic, guilty verdict.
488
00:29:15,603 --> 00:29:18,643
[narrator] Ian Simms is sentenced
to life imprisonment
489
00:29:18,803 --> 00:29:21,163
with a minimum tariff of 16 years.
490
00:29:21,523 --> 00:29:24,603
[sighs with relief]
Well, when he stands up and said guilty.
491
00:29:31,883 --> 00:29:35,803
When he was found guilty
and I heard all this evidence was that,
492
00:29:35,883 --> 00:29:38,283
"Well, surely he'll tell me now."
493
00:29:38,363 --> 00:29:42,763
In fact, listening to all the evidence,
it was overwhelming.
494
00:29:42,843 --> 00:29:46,523
It was both circumstantial as well as DNA.
495
00:29:46,843 --> 00:29:49,683
The feeling of relief wasn't there.
496
00:29:50,163 --> 00:29:53,763
It was nice to know that
he's been found guilty.
497
00:29:53,843 --> 00:29:58,403
Great, but we couldn't put Helen anywhere.
That's the hard part.
498
00:29:58,683 --> 00:30:00,683
[Gaynor] For years,
you try and understand,
499
00:30:00,763 --> 00:30:02,923
or get some understanding of why,
500
00:30:03,923 --> 00:30:05,603
what possessed him to do this.
501
00:30:05,843 --> 00:30:09,723
And I just don't think
you can get any reasoning out of it.
502
00:30:11,203 --> 00:30:14,643
I think he's just got a psychopathic mind,
503
00:30:14,723 --> 00:30:17,763
and there is no reason
or logic behind the actions.
504
00:30:19,083 --> 00:30:21,003
There was cheering in the court,
505
00:30:22,363 --> 00:30:25,363
but, it could only be a partial victory,
506
00:30:25,443 --> 00:30:28,563
because Helen's body
had still not been found,
507
00:30:29,243 --> 00:30:32,683
and that made it a very unusual
case in British justice.
508
00:30:33,683 --> 00:30:36,363
[Tom] It was a very, very
unusual murder investigation.
509
00:30:37,203 --> 00:30:39,723
It's the first conviction
where the conviction
510
00:30:39,803 --> 00:30:42,523
has been based in large part
on DNA without a body.
511
00:30:43,243 --> 00:30:47,203
[Charles] This murder case
was a breakthrough one for DNA testing.
512
00:30:47,763 --> 00:30:52,003
It was in its relative infancy
back in the 1980s.
513
00:30:52,083 --> 00:30:56,003
Although it had been proved
to be accurate to a degree,
514
00:30:56,083 --> 00:31:00,283
statistically it eliminated
a lot of people.
515
00:31:00,803 --> 00:31:03,123
This was really the first time, though,
516
00:31:03,203 --> 00:31:06,843
that a conviction
was secured mostly on this.
517
00:31:07,003 --> 00:31:09,683
There was a lot of other
evidence circumstantial,
518
00:31:09,923 --> 00:31:14,283
but the blood and the hair
and other traces
519
00:31:14,363 --> 00:31:19,203
were certainly very significant
in securing Simms' conviction.
520
00:31:20,723 --> 00:31:23,043
That's when you think… [sighs in relief]
521
00:31:23,123 --> 00:31:25,563
"Yes, you're proven guilty,
why don't you tell us now?"
522
00:31:27,523 --> 00:31:31,283
[narrator] Ian Simms still doesn't
tell the family where Helen's body is.
523
00:31:32,283 --> 00:31:33,963
We can't see any sense in it, really,
524
00:31:34,043 --> 00:31:38,803
because, it would have made
his sentence shorter.
525
00:31:39,523 --> 00:31:42,643
Whether he wants,
is hiding something else, I don't know,
526
00:31:43,123 --> 00:31:48,523
but I just cannot grasp
why he has served 31 years
527
00:31:49,603 --> 00:31:51,203
unnecessarily, in a way.
528
00:31:52,283 --> 00:31:55,403
With the evidence that there is,
I have no qualms
529
00:31:55,763 --> 00:31:59,803
about calling him a murderer,
and as the judge said,
530
00:32:00,603 --> 00:32:03,323
"What you've done
puts you in the first division
531
00:32:03,963 --> 00:32:06,043
of cold-blooded murderers."
532
00:32:12,043 --> 00:32:14,363
[narrator] Ian Simms
has been found guilty of murdering
533
00:32:14,443 --> 00:32:16,363
22-year-old Helen McCourt.
534
00:32:17,963 --> 00:32:21,403
Despite this, there are still
questions to be answered.
535
00:32:22,643 --> 00:32:25,763
[Charles] We can only speculate
as to what the motive was.
536
00:32:26,243 --> 00:32:31,403
Some say that it was just a row,
which escalated
537
00:32:31,683 --> 00:32:35,563
after she'd gone to the pub
to smooth over the incident
538
00:32:35,643 --> 00:32:37,883
that had happened
a couple of days earlier.
539
00:32:37,963 --> 00:32:41,483
{\an8}It's also been speculated
that she was threatening
540
00:32:41,563 --> 00:32:44,563
{\an8}to expose his illicit affair,
541
00:32:45,283 --> 00:32:48,643
but there was no justification
for what he did.
542
00:32:49,763 --> 00:32:52,683
I've covered a lot
of murder cases since then,
543
00:32:52,763 --> 00:32:56,363
and have never come across
another one remotely like it.
544
00:32:57,043 --> 00:32:59,523
The sense of a lack of closure
545
00:32:59,603 --> 00:33:02,843
is still painful for the family.
546
00:33:03,603 --> 00:33:06,363
Marie feels that time
is running out for her.
547
00:33:07,603 --> 00:33:10,203
[Ian] It's not just one person
who's suffering, the parents.
548
00:33:10,283 --> 00:33:13,683
{\an8}It's the whole family, they feel it.
Everybody feels it.
549
00:33:14,563 --> 00:33:20,883
{\an8}It prevented our children
from having a normal life,
550
00:33:21,323 --> 00:33:24,523
and they were at the age where,
you know, they were going out.
551
00:33:25,843 --> 00:33:29,083
[narrator] Helen's family continue
searching for her remains.
552
00:33:30,403 --> 00:33:32,843
[Tom] The family are still out
on a regular basis,
553
00:33:32,923 --> 00:33:34,883
trying to find out
what's happened to Helen.
554
00:33:35,763 --> 00:33:40,563
[Pat] You can't go for a walk,
you can't take the dogs for a walk
555
00:33:40,643 --> 00:33:43,083
without looking at fields and thinking,
556
00:33:43,923 --> 00:33:45,203
"She could be there."
557
00:33:45,283 --> 00:33:46,483
She could be anywhere.
558
00:33:46,563 --> 00:33:49,043
She could be under that tree,
or by that fence.
559
00:33:49,603 --> 00:33:52,603
And that's the first thought
that comes into your mind.
560
00:33:53,003 --> 00:33:54,883
It really is, it's frightening.
561
00:33:54,963 --> 00:33:57,203
Even when the police were still searching,
562
00:33:57,563 --> 00:34:00,483
we were going down,
you know, "Can we help?"
563
00:34:00,803 --> 00:34:02,883
They wouldn't actually
let us search with them,
564
00:34:02,963 --> 00:34:05,363
but they say, "Can you search that field?
565
00:34:05,443 --> 00:34:09,003
Can you, you know, go along that verge,
566
00:34:09,083 --> 00:34:13,682
or can you go along that,
say, canal or brook, or things like that."
567
00:34:14,282 --> 00:34:19,282
And when they did eventually stop,
we continued,
568
00:34:19,803 --> 00:34:24,363
I would say practically every Sunday,
not just up to the trial,
569
00:34:24,443 --> 00:34:27,282
for three, four years.
570
00:34:27,803 --> 00:34:29,242
[Ian] Sunday was Marie's day.
571
00:34:29,323 --> 00:34:31,722
The whole family
would get together, friends.
572
00:34:31,803 --> 00:34:34,083
I'd say to Marie,
"Where do you want us to go this time?"
573
00:34:34,163 --> 00:34:39,282
And she'd pick a particular place
where she thinks she might be,
574
00:34:39,363 --> 00:34:42,963
and we'd go, get all the tools out,
and go searching.
575
00:34:44,323 --> 00:34:48,563
[John] Very big searches,
30 to 40 people going out on a Sunday,
576
00:34:49,043 --> 00:34:54,003
clearing ditches, in canals,
going into old quarries,
577
00:34:54,443 --> 00:34:57,123
cleaning whole mine shafts,
things like that.
578
00:34:57,203 --> 00:35:01,123
We were doing very good
methodical searches.
579
00:35:01,443 --> 00:35:05,243
It's like now, if we heard
the police had found a body,
580
00:35:05,803 --> 00:35:08,443
we automatically phone Marie up and say,
581
00:35:08,523 --> 00:35:11,043
"A body's been found
in such and such a place.
582
00:35:11,523 --> 00:35:13,843
You need to find out,
it could be our Helen."
583
00:35:13,923 --> 00:35:15,763
You automatically build yourself up.
584
00:35:16,003 --> 00:35:18,403
You get so deflated, it's unbelievable,
585
00:35:18,683 --> 00:35:21,003
knowing that it's not
the person you're looking for,
586
00:35:21,483 --> 00:35:23,203
but, then you start thinking,
587
00:35:23,803 --> 00:35:27,323
"That's some other person's family,
and they're going to be suffering."
588
00:35:28,803 --> 00:35:30,803
So, you know
what they're feeling like, then.
589
00:35:31,603 --> 00:35:35,363
Our Marie will never rest
until Helen's found.
590
00:35:35,483 --> 00:35:39,883
I can never come to terms
with the fact that, um…
591
00:35:40,283 --> 00:35:43,203
That I won't ever be able
to give Helen a burial.
592
00:35:45,843 --> 00:35:49,763
[narrator] In the family's church yard,
Marie has a commemorative bench.
593
00:35:51,403 --> 00:35:56,923
[Marie] It's a marble seat
in Helen's name, that, her killer,
594
00:35:57,003 --> 00:36:01,163
he can prevent me from giving her
a proper burial here,
595
00:36:01,843 --> 00:36:07,443
but he can't prevent me from having
her name in the church graveyard,
596
00:36:07,763 --> 00:36:12,843
and it will be there for as long
as the church and grounds are here.
597
00:36:14,123 --> 00:36:16,763
You see a lot of the people coming out,
598
00:36:16,843 --> 00:36:20,843
and they nip over, and they go… [kisses]
…onto her picture.
599
00:36:21,523 --> 00:36:26,083
God bless Helen, you know?
So she's in people's minds all the time.
600
00:36:26,643 --> 00:36:30,843
I feel it for Marie,
because she can't go and talk to Helen.
601
00:36:31,483 --> 00:36:34,483
I know she's got that bench
outside the church.
602
00:36:34,563 --> 00:36:38,403
She can go and sit on that
as if Helen's there, and that's it,
603
00:36:38,803 --> 00:36:42,563
but she can't go to a grave
where her child's body is.
604
00:36:42,803 --> 00:36:46,323
It goes on and on,
and it affects everyone to a degree,
605
00:36:46,563 --> 00:36:49,283
and it impacts your life in a way that
606
00:36:49,483 --> 00:36:52,123
you just wish no one
had to have their life impacted.
607
00:36:52,603 --> 00:36:54,683
Your trust in people goes.
608
00:36:59,003 --> 00:37:01,483
{\an8}[narrator] Marie,
her family and her friends
609
00:37:01,763 --> 00:37:06,763
{\an8}continue to push for a change in the law
with what they call Helen's Law.
610
00:37:07,083 --> 00:37:10,563
Helen's Law is there to prevent killers
611
00:37:10,723 --> 00:37:13,123
from hiding their victims' bodies,
612
00:37:13,203 --> 00:37:17,123
and putting their victim's
families through hell.
613
00:37:17,323 --> 00:37:19,003
They ruin their lives.
614
00:37:19,363 --> 00:37:21,123
No body, no parole.
615
00:37:22,083 --> 00:37:25,123
[John] What we're asking for
is a change in legislation
616
00:37:25,683 --> 00:37:30,123
that till they cooperate
with the authorities,
617
00:37:30,443 --> 00:37:33,283
and say where the body is,
and it's recovered,
618
00:37:33,563 --> 00:37:35,963
that they are not liable for parole.
619
00:37:36,283 --> 00:37:38,163
Because without that body,
620
00:37:38,243 --> 00:37:41,723
it's just an ongoing trauma
for the family.
621
00:37:42,443 --> 00:37:45,203
[Gaynor] Losing someone
to murder is horrific enough.
622
00:37:45,603 --> 00:37:46,763
Not having a body,
623
00:37:47,803 --> 00:37:50,203
and someone withholding
that information for you
624
00:37:50,283 --> 00:37:52,483
is absolutely soul-destroying.
625
00:37:53,283 --> 00:37:56,963
I don't even know how someone
can be seen to be remorseful
626
00:37:57,043 --> 00:37:58,723
if they're withholding that information.
627
00:37:58,923 --> 00:38:01,283
There's no compassion for the family.
628
00:38:02,043 --> 00:38:03,843
It's just a total controlling thing.
629
00:38:04,083 --> 00:38:07,963
[Ian] The yellow ribbons
we've put up now are for Helen's Law,
630
00:38:08,203 --> 00:38:10,763
and the amount of people
in the street who have asked me,
631
00:38:10,843 --> 00:38:14,683
"Why are they up, are they for Helen?"
And I just say, "Yes, get this law passed,
632
00:38:14,883 --> 00:38:18,003
so that what's happened to us
doesn't happen to anybody else."
633
00:38:18,763 --> 00:38:22,243
[Marie] I think that
when we get Helen's Law,
634
00:38:22,323 --> 00:38:25,163
that will give me
a certain amount of peace,
635
00:38:25,323 --> 00:38:28,763
because I will feel through her death
636
00:38:28,843 --> 00:38:32,203
has come about a better law,
637
00:38:32,363 --> 00:38:35,083
where innocent families
don't have to suffer,
638
00:38:35,203 --> 00:38:37,803
wondering where
their loved one's remains are.
639
00:38:38,643 --> 00:38:40,483
[John] I'm sure
she would have been a mother,
640
00:38:40,603 --> 00:38:42,443
probably even a grandmother by now.
641
00:38:43,403 --> 00:38:47,003
It's a big hole.
It's still Helen's room upstairs.
642
00:38:47,323 --> 00:38:48,683
She'll always be around us.
643
00:38:49,723 --> 00:38:51,803
Long as we breathe, she'll be with us.
644
00:38:54,323 --> 00:38:56,643
[Charles] There are several
victims in this case.
645
00:38:56,803 --> 00:38:59,403
There always are in murder cases,
of course,
646
00:38:59,683 --> 00:39:02,283
not just the person
who's been unlawfully killed,
647
00:39:02,923 --> 00:39:07,043
but one has to feel
particularly sorry for Marie,
648
00:39:07,563 --> 00:39:09,363
and for brother Michael,
649
00:39:09,763 --> 00:39:12,323
who haven't been able
to obtain this closure,
650
00:39:12,643 --> 00:39:14,563
and it's been an open wound for them.
651
00:39:15,723 --> 00:39:18,883
She was loved by everyone, she really was.
652
00:39:19,523 --> 00:39:23,323
I just hope and pray to God that I can,
653
00:39:23,403 --> 00:39:25,083
that she can be found,
654
00:39:25,323 --> 00:39:29,723
and she can be put to rest
in this graveyard.
655
00:39:29,883 --> 00:39:32,323
No one ever wants to bury a child.
656
00:39:34,363 --> 00:39:39,163
She deserves a proper, peaceful rest.
657
00:40:05,843 --> 00:40:07,843
{\an8}[theme music playing]