Human bones found in septic tank at farmer’s home where his wife vanished 37 years ago belong to adult FEMALE, police confirm
- Police visisted property near Kempsey, Worcestershire, after the grim discovery
- Body parts found in a bag in cesspit being drained during routine maintenance
- Officers looking at the possibility that the bones were those of Brenda Venables
- Mr Venables was never arrested in connection with wife’s disappearance in 1982
Brenda Venables went missing in 1982. Her husband David (pictured today), who still lives in the area, ran a nursery on the site
The human bones found at a farmhouse 37 years after the disappearance of the farmer’s wife who lived there were today confirmed as those of a woman.
Police went to the property on the outskirts of Kempsey, Worcestershire, at the weekend after the grim discovery.
Villagers said body parts were discovered in a bag in a cesspit being drained during routine maintenance.
The farmhouse is less than eight miles from the site where police have been digging for estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who vanished 33 years ago.
West Mercia Police said it was too early to rule out a connection to the Lamplugh case, but added that it had no evidence to suggest a possible link.
Instead, officers are said to be looking at the possibility that the bones were those of the farmer’s wife, named locally as Brenda Venables, who vanished from the address in 1982.
The force confirmed today that it had received the post-mortem report in relation to the remains found at the site on July 12.
The farmhouse. sold for £467,000 in 2014, is on the outskirts of Kempsey, Worcestershire
Detective Chief Inspector Carl said: ‘The results enable us to confirm that the bones discovered are that of an adult female. The bones will now be forensically tested to try to obtain DNA for identification purposes.
‘We are aware this is concerning for the community of Kempsey, the wider Worcestershire area and for those with missing family or friends. There is a lot of speculation surrounding the remains.
‘These types of discoveries are rare and I would like to reassure people that we are doing our utmost to identify the remains – so that a family can have closure and lay their loved one to rest.
‘Unfortunately, this can be a lengthy process but we are committed to identifying who this is and will update the community in due course.’
Mrs Venables and husband David, who is now 86 and still lives in the area, ran a nursery on the site, while Mr Venables was said to have a piggery nearby. They were not thought to have any children.
Mr Venables declined to comment yesterday. As he returned to his £300,000 bungalow after taking rubbish to the tip in his car, he said: ‘I have nothing to say on the matter.’
A relative of Mrs Venables said: ‘We have had no developments for 37 years. To suddenly be confronted with this major development is quite a lot to process.’
Brenda Venables (left) vanished from the address in 1982. Some years ago Mrs Venables’s name was added to her parents’ gravestone at St Michael’s Church in Rushock (right)
They added: ‘Brenda’s bank account remained untouched and there were no positive sightings of her after she disappeared.’
One local said: ‘When the wife disappeared it was big news here. Police searched my outbuildings and deployed tracker dogs.
‘There was a suggestion that she may have ended up in the River Severn, which is only a few fields away from their farmhouse.’
After the disappearance of Mrs Venables, the case was treated as a search for a missing person and did not become a murder inquiry.
Mr Venables was never arrested in connection with his wife’s disappearance, according to relatives.
He sold the farmhouse to a relative for £467,000 five years ago and now lives in a bungalow around a mile away.
Some years ago Mrs Venables’s name was added to her parents’ gravestone at St Michael’s church in Rushock, recording her year of death as 1982.
A family source said it was a way of remembering her despite the absence of a body to bury.
Mr Venables told the Worcester Evening News in May 1982 how he had woken one morning to find his wife gone.
Describing how he had spent 48 hours anxiously waiting by the phone for news, he added: ‘She has never done anything like this before and I haven’t the faintest idea what has happened to her.’
He said she had been depressed as a result of a bout of flu. ‘I have been unable to sleep a wink since she left and I can only hope and pray that she is safe,’ he said.
Police used a helicopter to search the countryside, including the banks of the Severn.
One villager, who declined to be named, said: ‘I remember well at the time, the police came along and they were looking through all the barns, and going through the hay.
Villagers said body parts were discovered in a bag in a cesspit at the farmhouse in Kempsey
‘They were looking for this woman about 48 hours after she disappeared. That went on for a while, and they had a helicopter up looking which at the time was a bit of a novelty. Of course, they didn’t find anything.’
Last night a nephew of Mrs Venables said he hoped the family might now get ‘closure’ but the discovery of the bones raised questions over the initial investigation.
Mark Sheppy, 58, said: ‘If you go and dredge a river… why didn’t they look a bit nearer?’
He added: ‘It’s always been a mystery and now it might finally be solved. It’s not confirmed yet – but if it’s not her, who is it?’
This month the Metropolitan Police began a search for Suzy Lamplugh at Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, close to the scene of a previous search for the missing estate agent 18 years ago.
Miss Lamplugh, 25, vanished in 1986 and was declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1994. The prime suspect was convicted killer John Cannan, but there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
The Met said the Drakes Broughton search was the result of fresh information received after a search of the home which formerly belonged to Cannan’s mother in Sutton Coldfield.
Yesterday Superintendent Damian Pettit said: ‘This is understandably a concerning discovery for the people in Kempsey. Thankfully findings of this nature are very rare.
‘We have multiple lines of inquiry to explore and one of which is into the disappearance of a woman from Kempsey that was launched in 1982.
‘At this stage we don’t believe the remains to be connected to the Met Police’s missing person investigation for Suzy Lamplugh.’
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