Thirty-year-old Nicola Ray was the mother of two children, eleven-year-old Joedy and eight-year-old Stevie, and lived with her fiancé Timothy Barnes in Basildon, England. The couple was due to be married later on in the year.
On the night of May 1st, 2000, Nicola was spending a night out with friends, and at some point after midnight on May 2nd, she parted company with them and began making her way back home. She evidently never made it there and has never been seen since.
Authorities began to suspect that her partner was responsible for her mysterious disappearance and brought him in for questioning in February 2001. After an extensive interrogation, however, he was released without charge.
Many years went by, and because no sign of Nicola turned up in the ensuing decade, detectives were certain she had been murdered. In April 2010, Timothy Barnes was arrested again and questioned in connection with the crime. This time around, police combed through the couple’s home and surrounding property looking for clues. Nothing of note could be found, though, and later searches of adjacent fields and a nearby lake likewise yielded no evidence.
Timothy Barnes was released again, and in November 2010, investigators confirmed they would take no further action against him.
The disappearance and likely murder of Nicola Ray remains unsolved as of July 2024.
Crime Immemorial 