Re-investigation of Three Middlesborough Murders
The Unsolved Murders of Three Women Are To Be Reviewed
These three young women all went missing from Middlesborough, England in unexplained circumstances. The bodies of Rachel Wilson and Vicky glass were later found but Donna Keogh remains a missing person.
There has never been an identified link officially established between the three disappearances but, it does seem likely that there is possibly a connection, all three cases have been treated as murder.
Assistant Chief Constable of Cleveland police, Jason Harwin said “There is a commonality between the cases through the ages and sex of the victims and all being linked geographically to Middlesborough”. He did not elaborate as to whether he considers any further link such as the same perpetrator.
Cleveland police have launched an in-depth review in which all three cases will be thoroughly re-investigated. The force has been granted 3.77 million pounds for the review from the Home Office, which will be used to set up a historic investigation unit.
Donna Keogh was last seen on April 19th 1998 in Hartington Road, Middlesborough, she was 17 and has never been seen since.
She shared a flat with her cousin at the time of her disappearance which she left at approximately 11pm on Saturday 18th April, she was then seen some four hours later getting into a red car in Hartington Road, close to the Shipmate pub, that would have been at approximately 3am. The car drove off toward Newport Bridge and vanished.
There have been an odd sighting or two but nothing confirmed. It was also suggested that she may have gone away to Leeds to take up modelling work. Police visited the modelling agency and spoke to friends of Donna but to no avail.
It was claimed that Donna may have accumulated some drug debts, which her family had become aware of prior to her disappearance.
Her family made complaints to the police in 2015 about the way the disappearance and investigations were handled, claiming that there had been a lot of failings. As a result, a case review was undertaken in 2016 but no fresh evidence was forthcoming and the case remains unsolved.
21-year-old Vicky was last seen in Middlesborough on September 24th 2000, at around 4am. She was dropped off by a taxi outside the Shipmate pub in Union Street. Her naked body was found on moorland by a dog walker on November 3rd 2000.
Vicky worked as a prostitute on the streets of Middlesborough and had become addicted to heroin.
A farmer was questioned about her murder in 2000 and a 47-year-old man was arrested and interviewed in connection with her disappearance in 2002 but no one has ever been charged. Also during 2002 several properties in North Yorkshire were searched by police, which was believed to be part of the murder investigation but nothing developed.
Inspector Peter Carr said “Vicky’s life was cut short at such a young age and her family and friends have been robbed of precious time with her. Someone knows what happened to her and that information must have been a great burden to carry over the last two decades”.
Rachel Wilson was missing for 10 years before her skeletal remains were found near Newham Hall Farm in Coulby Newham in 2012
Due to the length of time that the remains had lain undiscovered the cause of death could not be accurately determined, but it was considered by pathologists that she was unlikely to have been murdered in the location where she was found.
Rachel had also been a prostitute of her disappearance and had lived in Middlesborough on Southfield Road. She was also known to be addicted to class A drugs including heroin and crack cocaine, hence her reason for turning to prostitution as a way of supporting her addiction.
In 2003 a male was arrested in connection with Rachel’s disappearance but was released without charge. Then in February 2016, a man was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Rachel Wilson then in December 2019, a 61-year-old man was eventually charged with her murder, living off immoral earnings from prostitution and perverting the course of justice.
Keith Thomas Joseph Hall appeared at Newcastle Crown Court via video-link in January 2020, he denied Rachel’s murder and it was announced in October 2020 that the trial would be delayed until May 4th 2021. It is not clear whether police consider Hall as a suspect in all three cases but to date they have not charged him with anything further and the other two investigations remain active and open.
I will leave it there for this one and will keep an eye on Hall’s trial, then report further here as things develop. I will be back with another case very soon, in fact, I have several new items to bring you in the coming days, so I will see you again soon.
In the meantime, if you’d like to contact me to discuss this or any other case then please do get in touch, I love to hear from you.
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