In the quiet winter of early 1996, the coastal town of Hastings, East Sussex, England, was shaken by a brutal killing that remains unsolved nearly three decades later. On the morning of January 31st, 1996, the body of twenty-seven-year-old Robert Jones—known to friends and family as Bobby—was discovered in Alexandra Park. He had been stabbed … More Bobby Jones

Thirteen-year-old Billie-Jo Jenkins had been in foster care since the age of two. In 1992, she was placed with Sion and Lois Jenkins, a couple in their late twenties who lived in a large Victorian house at 11 Mews Road in the Old Town area of Hastings. Sion was a deputy head teacher at a … More Billie-Jo Jenkins

Thirty-one-year-old Michael Sutherland, a divorced father, attended a New Year’s Eve party at a property in Bransholme, Hull, East Yorkshire. In the early hours of January 1st, 1996—around three thirty a.m.—a confrontation erupted outside the address at number 2 Fairbourne Close. Reports indicate that Michael became involved in a dispute, possibly over jewelry, with several … More Michael Sutherland

In the midst of the post-Christmas period in 1995, a brutal shooting shocked the Handsworth Wood area of Birmingham, England. On December 27th, 1995, thirty-seven-year-old Trevor Lee Hamilton was gunned down on a residential street, marking one of the many unsolved murders that plagued the West Midlands during that era. Trevor Lee Hamilton was chased … More Trevor Lee Hamilton

In September 1997, the quiet outskirts of Milngavie in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, became the scene of a shocking crime that shattered a young family and highlighted the violent undercurrents of Glasgow’s criminal underworld. Christopher McGrory, a twenty-five-year-old unemployed man from Lennoxtown, had just returned from his honeymoon. He married his bride, Anne-Marie, in Dublin earlier … More Christopher McGrory

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