Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing
people, unresolved cases and UK true crime. Today is episode eight of twelve
days of Missing People throughout December, and we are going to be discussing the
disappearance of John Deakin in two thousand and four. This episode is about a
missing person and so does not contain any graphic descriptions. However, listener discretion
is always advised. Flamboroughhead is a series of chalk cliffs located in the East
Riding of Yorkshire and is well known for Flamboroughhead Lighthouse, which marks the area
for coastal traffic coming towards Scarborough and Bridlington. It's an attraction for people who
love being outdoors hiking, as well as the various wildlife that live around the
cliffs. On the morning of the fourth of November two thousand and four,
fifty three year old John Deacon left his home on School Lane in the Stannington
area of the city of Sheffield. This is around four miles from the city
center itself. John was a keen hiker and loved to head out for long
walks and rambles, and that morning he told his wife Patricia that he was
heading out for one of his usual walks. There was nothing unusual about this,
and it was later reported that Patricia waved him off with a cheery smile.
It was a cold November morning, but John was a seasoned hiker and
it was something he did regularly. Later that day, however, it had
begun to get dark and John had still not returned to their home. It
was at this point that Patricia started to get a bit worried about him.
While he loved a long walk, John would normally have returned by this point,
and the fact that he was out there in winter in the dark concerned
Patricia. She later told the Mirror newspaper. At first, I blamed traffic,
but then I tried his mobile and it was switched off. I presumed
he must still be driving. There were many reasons why John may be late
home, but when he had still not returned a couple of hours after that,
she knew something must be wrong. This was very out of character for
John to be gone so long, and for him not to contact her to
let her know that he might be home late. She decided she had to
contact the police to let them know that John was missing and that he hadn't
returned from his walk. She also called local hospitals to see if any one
fitting John's description or giving his name had been admitted that day. The worrying
thought that perhaps he had got into an accident, of course, ran through
Patricia's head. There was, however, no one would that name who had
been admitted that day. Police quickly gained a description of John from Patricia and
began inquiries to try and locate him. They were also able to use his
mobile phone number to trace the last known signal from his phone and were able
to get a location. They discovered that the last phone signal from John's phone
had been at around midday, and that it transmitted from the area of Flamborough
on the East Yorkshire coast from their home. This was around a ninety mile
journey and would have taken just over two hours to drive. This did make
sense to Patricia, who later explained that the couple loved the area and had
spent many happy days walking along the cliffs. Together with this location, police
traveled out to Flamber and began searching for John. Patricia explained about this search,
saying I was convinced John had fallen and was certain they would find him.
Police did find something, but it wasn't John. They located his blue
Renault Laguna car at the North Landing car park at Flamborough Head. The car
was locked, however, when they were able to get inside it, they
found that John had left the items in the boot that he would have needed
to set off on a hike. It reported that he had left his walking
boots and that they had not been worn. He had also left behind his
walking stick and uneaten sandwiches, which he would have taken with him for the
journey. Patricia would later say that it was odd that he would leave without
either of these two things. She speculated quote, I think he went off
in a hurry or intended coming back for them. Either way, it seemed
very strange and very out of character for him to leave those things in his
car, and the search for him involved a huge search by police, a
helicopter and two lifeboats. Given the quite dangerous location that John had disappeared in,
it was pivotal that they rule out all eventualities. John, however,
was not found during any of these searches. While police continued looking for John,
they spoke to Patricia about their life together and whether there was anything that
had been bothering John that they may need to know about. Patricia explained that
they were happy together and that they shared a daughter. In fact, their
daughter, Jennifer, was eight months pregnant at the time that John went missing.
She explained that she hadn't really wanted to let Jennifer know about her fact
disappearance, given that it would cause her stress. However, she did infarm
her about it. Patricia said that John was excited for their first granddaughter to
be born and that he would have never left without meeting her. She said
that they had a holiday book for the next year and that he had made
plans which did not indicate that he wanted to leave or take his own life.
Patricia did inform them that John, who worked as an electrical engineer,
was due to give evidence in court on behalf of his employer the week after
his disappearance. She said that John had never been to court before and that
he was a natural barn warrior and so this may have been on his mind,
but she explained that he had no reason to want to run away or
to take his own life. This was of course of interest to the police,
but did not really explain why John would have disappeared. A description of
John was issued to the public. He was described as white, five fort
six inches tall, of medium build, with brown eyes and black hair thinning
on top and wearing glasses. He was wearing a navy blue jumper, slate
gray fleece top, and dark trousers. Police appealed for anyone who may have
seen John that day to come forward, even if they didn't think their information
was important. This appeal did lead to witnesses coming forward. One couple told
police that John had approached them and asked them if he needed to pay to
park when it was out of season. Another man saw John leaning against the
information board before setting off along the cliff path. These sightings were helpful as
they helped to build a picture of John's time that morning. They were a
little confusing, though. If John had set off along the coastal path,
why was he not wearing his walking or taken his sandwiches. If he had
traveled to the area to perhaps take his own life, which had been suggested,
then why did he bother asking someone about parking. Police were diligent in
trying to find John, and it's reported that several different agencies were involved,
including the Coastguard, the ire and a lie South Yorkshire Police including the Dog
Division, the National Missing Person's Helpline, and the Salvation Army. Patricia later
said that the charity Missing People helped her immensely by distributing posters of John to
the public, but also supporting her during a time that she needed it most.
She stated, they were a lifeline. They gave me tremendous help when
I needed it. They assigned a lady to help me and we've since become
good friends. I don't know what I'd have done without them. The situation
was made all the more devastating by the fact that six weeks after John's disappearance,
their daughter Jennifer gave birth to her daughter Freya, and he missed out
on seeing the birth of his first grandchild. She said, he was so
looking forward to being a granddad. None of it seems fair. Patricia since
stated in two thousand and eight that having her daughter Jennifer and her granddaughter Freya
has given her new strength. She said in an article in The Mirror that
year that she had been the one to give Jennifer away at her wedding.
Patricia said it felt strange, but it was something I wanted to do.
I'm immensely proud of Jennifer. Patricia has kept in touch with the charity Missing
People and continues to believe in their ability to help her and to help the
loved ones of missing people everywhere. She has continued to appeal for information as
to what happened to John and said, even if I got bad news,
it would be better than being in limbo. My instinct tells me he's met
with some accident or had a health problem. He could have fallen. There's
lots of cliff erosion there. He would never do anything silly. He wasn't
depressed. I used to hope he'd lost his memory and would turn up somewhere
safe and well. Painful as it would be, I just wish someone had
proof of what happened. Until then, I'll always keep a little bit of
hope. Since John's disappearance in two thousand and four, there has been little
published about any movement on his case and whether anything more has been discovered.
It's now nearly twenty years since John disappeared and his family still do not know
what happened to him that day at Flamborough Head. This is such a tragic
and odd disappearance, given how out of character it was and how his car
and his belongings had been left, someone may have seen something that day that
could help out. If you know any think about the disappearance of John Deacon
on November fourth, two thousand and four on Flamborough Head, then please contact
the police on one oh one or the charity Missing People. I will link
John's missing person profile in the show notes. Thank you for listening to episode
eight of our twelve Days of Missing Person episodes throughout December, listening in two
days to episode nine. If you'd like to support the podcast further, then
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YouTube and follow us on social media as our ways. I'm Caprice and this
has been Unseen sp