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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Police chief responds to Fred West 'murder victim' petition | Police chief responds to Fred West 'murder victim' petition |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| Police have again told campaigners calling for a fresh search for a teenager thought to be a victim of Fred West that there is no evidence. | Police have again told campaigners calling for a fresh search for a teenager thought to be a victim of Fred West that there is no evidence. |
| Fifteen-year-old Mary Bastholm was last seen alive in Gloucester 44 years ago. | Fifteen-year-old Mary Bastholm was last seen alive in Gloucester 44 years ago. |
| Gloucestershire Police is being petitioned to carry out searches at the café where Ms Bastholm once worked. | Gloucestershire Police is being petitioned to carry out searches at the café where Ms Bastholm once worked. |
| But Chief Constable Tony Melville has told petition organisers there was "simply no evidence to support the idea that Mary is buried in that location". | But Chief Constable Tony Melville has told petition organisers there was "simply no evidence to support the idea that Mary is buried in that location". |
| Petitions' claims | Petitions' claims |
| Chris Roberts, who set up the petition on the 44th anniversary of her disappearance on 5 January 1968, said it was widely believed that Mary was another victim of West. | Chris Roberts, who set up the petition on the 44th anniversary of her disappearance on 5 January 1968, said it was widely believed that Mary was another victim of West. |
| But in a detailed letter, Mr Melville said he was replying because of the "scale of public interest" in the case and "at the request of Mary's family". | But in a detailed letter, Mr Melville said he was replying because of the "scale of public interest" in the case and "at the request of Mary's family". |
| He answered the petitions' claims by stating it was simply "not true" the cafe's basement toilet was converted around the time of Mary's disappearance. | |
| He wrote that a book found in the basement was not a school exercise book belonging to Mary but an old cafe diary with no connection to the Bastholm family. | He wrote that a book found in the basement was not a school exercise book belonging to Mary but an old cafe diary with no connection to the Bastholm family. |
| "It is our view that any search of the Pop-In Cafe would be entirely disproportionate and without foundation," added Mr Melville. | "It is our view that any search of the Pop-In Cafe would be entirely disproportionate and without foundation," added Mr Melville. |
| "We have visited Mary's family to explain this and they are wholly supportive of this course of action." | "We have visited Mary's family to explain this and they are wholly supportive of this course of action." |
| He has requested that the i-petition be removed and said the force would not revisit this decision "without new and compelling information". | He has requested that the i-petition be removed and said the force would not revisit this decision "without new and compelling information". |
| West was charged with 12 murders in 1994 and is suspected of torturing, raping and murdering an unknown number of women over a 20-year period. | |
| He committed suicide in Birmingham's Winson Green prison before his trial. | |
| His wife Rose was jailed for life for the murders of 10 girls and young women. | |
| The house in Cromwell Street in Gloucester, where the pair buried nine of their victims, has been demolished. |