Fifteen-year-old Mark Billington lived with his family in South Yardley, Birmingham, England. On September 1st, 1984, Mark went out riding his blue bicycle in the area as he often did. Later on that day, he was reportedly seen in the company of three other teenage boys as he flew a kite; these same three boys were also seen standing outside a building society while Mark was inside. These are believed to be the last sightings of Mark Billington alive.
A little more than two months later, on November 11th, Mark was found dead, hanging from a tree in a remote stretch of woods near Meriden; the location was about seven miles from his home.
Although Mark’s death was initially suspected to be suicide, some detectives doubted this scenario, and at the inquest, an open verdict was returned.
The case was largely put on the back burner for many years, and sadly, much of the physical evidence was lost. But in 2001, a man named Brian Field was arrested and convicted of the 1968 rape and murder of fourteen-year-old Roy Tutill in Surrey. Field had been living only a few miles from Mark Billington’s family in 1984, and authorities wondered if there was a connection, though it seems nothing substantial was done to follow up on this lead. However, the investigation into Mark’s death began being treated as a murder inquiry.
In 2002, three men—believed to be the teenagers seen with Mark before he disappeared—were likewise arrested and questioned, but were subsequently released without charge.
Mark’s family made a renewed plea in 2022 for information to help finally solve the case, but as of this writing in September of 2024, the murder of Mark Billington is still unsolved.
Crime Immemorial 