On Boxing Day 1996, in the working-class estate of Chelmsley Wood, Solihull, near Birmingham, England, two young friends stepped out to play and vanished without a trace. Patrick Warren, aged eleven, and David Spencer, aged thirteen, became known as the “Milk Carton Kids” after their faces appeared on milk cartons across the UK—the first such … More Patrick Warren and David Spencer

Michael Hewerdine, known locally as “Mick” or “Hewey,” was a thirty-two-year-old unemployed father of one. Described as five feet nine inches tall, of medium build, with short dark brown hair, he was a familiar face in Ruskington and nearby Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England, often seen cycling between the two towns—about four miles apart—or spending time in … More Michael Hewerdine

Melanie Hall was a vibrant twenty-five-year-old university graduate with a promising future. Born on August 20th, 1970, in Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, she had recently completed a degree in psychology and sociology and worked as a clerical officer at the Royal United Hospital in Bath, England. Described by family and friends as kind, outgoing, and full of … More Melanie Hall

Sixteen-year-old Damien Nettles lived with his parents, Valerie and Edward, and his siblings in Gurnard, near Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Described as a tall, lanky teenager standing about six feet three inches, Damien was a typical young man: he enjoyed music, had a new girlfriend on the mainland, and was looking forward to … More Damien Nettles

Surinder Kaur Varyapraj was a thirty-six-year-old Sikh woman, a devoted mother of three. Divorced and living alone in a modest home on Church Hill Road in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, she doted her children—a fourteen-year-old son and two daughters, aged fifteen and twelve—who stayed with their father following the separation. Known locally as a fit and … More Surinder Kaur Varyapraj

Born in New Zealand and adopted into a family that would take him across the globe—from Hong Kong, where he picked up fluent Cantonese, to Southport on England’s Merseyside coast—Ian Grant embodied resilience and reinvention. By his early twenties, he had settled in the UK, channeling his imposing six-foot-four frame and bodybuilder’s physique into amateur … More Ian Grant

Thirty-year-old Marie Garrity was born and raised in the West Midlands, and was a devoted mother to her three young children, whom she adored despite the circumstances that pushed her into sex work. Hillfields, a rough neighborhood in Coventry, England, was a notorious red-light district in the 1990s, drawing women like Marie to the streets … More Marie Garrity

In the humid haze of a June evening in 1995, the bustling streets of Glasgow’s Anderston district, long synonymous with the city’s shadowy red light trade, bore witness to a brutal act of violence that would haunt investigators for decades. Leona McGovern, a twenty-two-year-old sex worker, was throttled and stabbed to death. Her body, discarded … More Leona McGovern

Forty-two-year-old Mohammed Younis was a familiar figure in Slough, Berkshire, England, known for his reliable service as a local taxi driver, and working long hours to support his family. Friends and colleagues described him as mild-mannered and unassuming, with no known enemies or involvement in criminal activities that might have marked him as a target. … More Mohammed Younis

In the pre-dawn chill of November 22nd, 1994, a milkman making his rounds in the quiet suburb of Gedling, Nottinghamshire, England, stumbled upon a grim scene that would shatter a family and ignite one of the region’s most enduring cold cases. Tucked away in the secluded Lambley Lane Playing Fields, a taxi sat motionless, its … More Ethsham Ul-Haq Ghafoor