WEBVTT

1
00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:14.919
Hi, and welcome back to The
Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing

2
00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:20.920
people, unresolved cases, and UK
true crime. You may have noticed that

3
00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:25.440
this episode is not an unusual schedule. However, following the success of our

4
00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:29.960
twelve episodes of missing people in December
over the past two years, I want

5
00:00:29.960 --> 00:00:35.439
to publicize more missing person cases throughout
the year, so I'm tweaking the schedule

6
00:00:35.479 --> 00:00:39.000
a little bit to give you three
episodes in a month rather than two.

7
00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:43.159
There will be three episodes and a
week's break, and in each month a

8
00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:49.240
missing person case will be included,
so there will be an extra episode every

9
00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.479
month. One of the episodes may
well be shorter, and that may often

10
00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:57.560
be the missing person case, as
there may be less available information in these

11
00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:02.799
cases. This is the first of
these episodes, and today we're covering the

12
00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:08.359
nineteen ninety seven disappearance of Annemiring from
South Gloucestershire. This is a case with

13
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:14.200
so many twists and turns and some
developments over the years, but her disappearance

14
00:01:14.280 --> 00:01:19.239
is still a mystery and it remains
unsolved. This episode is about a missing

15
00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:25.359
person and so does not contain any
descriptions of violence, but listener discretion is

16
00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:32.439
always advised. Stoke Gifford is a
village located in the south of the county

17
00:01:32.439 --> 00:01:37.120
of Gloucestershire. In two thousand and
one, the village had around eleven thousand

18
00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:42.799
residents. However, in twenty years
this number has almost doubled. It's around

19
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:47.120
seven miles from the city of Bristol
and therefar as an area where many people

20
00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:53.040
commute to and from on a daily
basis. It's a relatively quiet and peaceful

21
00:01:53.079 --> 00:01:57.560
area. However, its proximity to
several head offices meant that it was an

22
00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:01.799
area where people would travel to for
work. One of these couples who had

23
00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:07.280
made their careers in and around Stoke
Gifford was Brian and Anne my Ring.

24
00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:14.240
Brian and Anne were married with two
sons, David and Stephen. Brian worked

25
00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:19.280
at the Rolls Royce facility in nearby
Filton, Bristol, and Anne worked as

26
00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:25.159
a clerical officer at the computer company
Hewlett Packard. The couple met in nineteen

27
00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:30.560
seventy one when they were in their
late teens a pub named a New Inn.

28
00:02:30.560 --> 00:02:35.120
They'd hit it off very quickly,
and they married and moved to Chevening

29
00:02:35.240 --> 00:02:39.400
close in Stoke Gifford. Together.
The pair had their two sons, and

30
00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:45.759
it's reported that Anne put her career
on hold to raise her children. Both

31
00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:49.680
Brian and Anne were involved with the
local community, and particularly in the cub

32
00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:54.439
and Scout groups in Filton in Bristol. The couple were well liked and Anne

33
00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:59.319
was known as a caring and thoughtful
person who was close to her family and

34
00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:05.120
did everything to try and help them. During nineteen ninety seven, Anne and

35
00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:09.560
her family were dealing with a very
stressful situation when Anne's mother Gwendolen was diagnosed

36
00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:15.199
with throat cancer. Anne was constantly
with her and by her side, getting

37
00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:22.719
her through the treatments. Gwendolen would
later describe Anne as her best friend and

38
00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.840
not just her daughter. This must
have added a great deal of stress to

39
00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:31.199
themiring family. However, Anne continued
to look after not only her mother but

40
00:03:31.319 --> 00:03:37.599
her family as well. Her son
David later described her as a warm and

41
00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:43.000
caring mum who always showed him affection
and love. He said she was really

42
00:03:43.080 --> 00:03:47.759
caring, always there, intelligent as
well. She liked doing crosswords and that

43
00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:54.319
a metal detecting she used to find
quite a few coins. Stephen, Anne's

44
00:03:54.360 --> 00:03:59.520
other son, also described her in
the same way, stating she was a

45
00:03:59.560 --> 00:04:03.159
real mind caring person. I could
speak to her about many things, and

46
00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:09.319
she was always there for us.
The Myring family appeared to be just like

47
00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:14.680
any other family with teenagers, always
busy, but also trying to make plans

48
00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:19.480
for their own futures when their children
flew the nest. By nineteen ninety seven,

49
00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:24.839
Anne and Brian were forty four and
forty five years old and were enjoying

50
00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:30.839
their lives. This so called normal
life that the family were living, however,

51
00:04:30.920 --> 00:04:36.240
was rocked. In July nineteen ninety
seven. The Myring family had been

52
00:04:36.279 --> 00:04:43.399
almost ripped apart by an unexpected incident. Anne had left the family home and

53
00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.959
hadn't returned, and it had been
several weeks since anyone in her family had

54
00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:53.360
seen her. This was so out
of character, and everyone who knew Anne

55
00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:59.199
didn't understand where she had gone or
what could have happened. She hadn't been

56
00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:01.879
reported miss for a few weeks since
she had last been seen, and the

57
00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:09.519
events surrounding that last day were relatively
unclear. That day, Anne my Ring

58
00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:14.839
headed to work at Hewlett Packard as
she usually did. Her colleagues didn't report

59
00:05:14.920 --> 00:05:17.920
anything different about her that day or
anything out of the ordinary that she said

60
00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:23.639
or did. Anne allegedly told them
that she was going to head home and

61
00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.879
then she was off out for a
meal with her husband Brian that night.

62
00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.839
This of course, didn't ring any
alarm bells and sounded like any usual evening

63
00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:38.759
to her colleagues. Anne left Hewlett
Packard at the end of her work day,

64
00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:42.399
and her sons David and Stephen saw
her that night. When she got

65
00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:47.120
home. The next day, however, was a different story. They both

66
00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:53.319
later recalled that the next morning their
mother wasn't there. When they asked where

67
00:05:53.319 --> 00:05:56.680
she was, their father, Brian
told them that Anne had gone away to

68
00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:00.800
a health farm for the rest of
that week and the weekend. While this

69
00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.040
seemed a little out of the blue, David and Stephen seemed to accept this

70
00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:09.879
explanation until the following morning, when
the weekend had ended and their mum had

71
00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:14.759
still not returned. At this point, Brian told his sons that Anne had

72
00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:19.759
actually left him and there had been
problems with the relationship. This shocked David

73
00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:24.560
and Stephen, as they hadn't been
aware that anything was wrong, especially to

74
00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:30.879
the extent that their mother would have
left the family home. David later commented

75
00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:34.240
on how he felt at the time
hearing this new piece of information. He

76
00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:40.199
told the Independent newspaper, Me and
Steve were really shocked. We didn't think

77
00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:45.040
anything was going wrong with the relationship. Apparently they had been arguing quite a

78
00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:47.920
lot that week and going out on
regular drives to chat about it away from

79
00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:55.240
us. I think it was about
money. The fact that their parents were

80
00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.600
having problems in their marriage wasn't the
most shocking part. It was the fact

81
00:06:59.600 --> 00:07:03.519
that Anne had simply left the home
and then behind without contacting anyone at all.

82
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:11.360
This seemed so unlike her and couldn't
really be explained. When Anne hadn't

83
00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:15.759
returned, she was officially reported missing
to the police. Brian later stated that

84
00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:19.240
he didn't report her missing straight away, as he thought she had left him.

85
00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:24.680
It was only when a family member
also noticed her absence that they officially

86
00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:30.160
reported her missing. Brian had contacted
the police about her disappearance, However,

87
00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:35.399
this was done informally and an official
report had not been made before this point.

88
00:07:36.519 --> 00:07:40.480
The police were able to establish that
she had last been seen on the

89
00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:44.079
twenty fifth of June, and they
attempted to figure out where she could have

90
00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:49.959
gone next. They had established that
Anne had driven her Voxhall Carlton car home

91
00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:56.800
and that the car remained there despite
Anne's absence. They also discovered that Anne

92
00:07:56.800 --> 00:08:01.360
had already booked off the next day, Thursday, the twenty sixth of June.

93
00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:05.199
When police looked into her bank account
activity, they discovered that Anne had

94
00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.560
not accessed her account or used any
credit or debit cards, and she had

95
00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:13.600
also not picked up four hundred pounds
in wages that she was owed from her

96
00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.319
job. If she had vanished of
her own volition, then why had she

97
00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:22.160
not told anyone where she was and
how was she going to live her life

98
00:08:22.199 --> 00:08:28.560
without contacting them. When her belongings
were checked, it appeared that she had

99
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.799
taken some of her belongings, like
some clothing. However, there were some

100
00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:37.240
odd features, particularly the fact that
she had not taken her makeup, her

101
00:08:37.320 --> 00:08:43.639
jewelry and seemed to have left behind
nine single shoes. The police were not

102
00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.320
convinced that Anne would have just walked
away, and neither were her family.

103
00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:52.600
Anne's younger sister, Jane, spoke
to the press at the time that Anne

104
00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:56.320
went missing. She stated, we're
all very worried about Anne and just want

105
00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:01.799
to hear from her. It's very
stressful. Our mother has had an operation

106
00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:07.039
for cancer and this isn't helping her
recovery. We're a very close family and

107
00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.919
it's very out of character for Anne
not to keep in touch. She was

108
00:09:09.960 --> 00:09:15.799
devoted to her boys. She has
never left home like this before. We

109
00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:20.360
have no idea why she has disappeared, and there is nothing obvious that would

110
00:09:20.440 --> 00:09:24.200
make her go, and she's never
done it before. We just believe that

111
00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:30.000
she was unhappy. We have no
clues as to where she is. The

112
00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.919
fact that Anne's mother had had an
operation and Anne had not checked in to

113
00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:37.120
see what the results were was also
alarming, given how close Anne and her

114
00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.360
mum were and how hard she'd been
working to look after her after her cancer

115
00:09:41.399 --> 00:09:48.080
diagnosis. Anne's family contacted the Missing
Person's Bureau for help in trying to locate

116
00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.639
her, and they supported the family
by printing hundreds of posters and fliers with

117
00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:58.679
Anne's information. These were distributed in
the hope that someone had seen her and

118
00:09:58.759 --> 00:10:03.679
could help her disappearance was so strange
and so unlike her that no one understood

119
00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:09.799
what could have happened. Brian made
an appeal to the public about his wife,

120
00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:13.320
saying their sons were missing her terribly. He said, I would like

121
00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:18.600
to appeal to Anne to get in
touch with their children. We're coping okay,

122
00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:22.559
but the boys are desperate to hear
from her. It appeared that Brian

123
00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:26.960
and his children were hoping that Anne
would return home and that there would be

124
00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:33.480
some reasonable explanation for why she had
disappeared. Over the next several months,

125
00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:37.559
there would continue to be some hope
that Anne would return. However, as

126
00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:41.240
the weeks then months passed, this
was a harder and harder to believe.

127
00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:46.919
There were no known reasons why Anne
would leave, and particularly why she wouldn't

128
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:52.960
tell her children where she was.
Her family and the police were increasingly worried

129
00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:58.600
about her safety. By October nineteen
ninety seven, Anne had still not returned,

130
00:10:58.679 --> 00:11:01.679
and it was this month there was
a new development in the case.

131
00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:09.559
Regional and national newspapers reported that there
had been two arrests made. The articles

132
00:11:09.639 --> 00:11:13.080
described how the arrests had taken place
at Chevening Close in Stoke, Gifford.

133
00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:26.360
The arrests had been made at the
Myring family home. Brian Myring and a

134
00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:31.679
woman had been arrested in relation to
the murder of An my Ring. This

135
00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:37.799
shocking development was unexpected and raised many
questions for those that heard about it.

136
00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:41.799
One of the main questions was who
was the woman who'd been arrested with him

137
00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:48.080
at his home. This would become
clear and the woman's name would be revealed

138
00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:52.159
as Teresa Kempster, who was thirty
eight at the time. It would turn

139
00:11:52.200 --> 00:11:56.759
out that Brian and Teresa were having
an affair and that they had been for

140
00:11:56.759 --> 00:12:01.399
the previous two years. Was also
married, and the pair had met at

141
00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:07.960
the Cubs and Scouts group that the
couple were involved with. This relationship was

142
00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:11.879
apparently quite well known to other people
who knew the couple, and Anne had

143
00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:13.960
found out about it. However,
she seemed to be one of the last

144
00:12:13.960 --> 00:12:20.519
people to know about this affair.
It was reported that despite knowing about the

145
00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:24.600
affair, Anne was happy to stay
with Brian and wanted to make it work.

146
00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:31.879
Anne's mother stated that Anne idolized Brian. The shocking news that Brian had

147
00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:37.039
been arrested and that he was also
having a long term affair during his marriage

148
00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:41.559
to Anne was sensational and articles began
to come out about the evidence that the

149
00:12:41.600 --> 00:12:48.399
police had against Brian and even possibly
Theresa Kempster. Police soon let Theresa go

150
00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.960
without any charges, but they did
formally charge Brian Myering with the murder of

151
00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:58.720
his wife. Many people speculated about
what the evidence exactly was to charge Brian,

152
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.879
and the fact they hadn't yet found
Anne was something else concerning about the

153
00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:09.960
case. If Brian had murdered her, where was her body nobody. Murder

154
00:13:11.039 --> 00:13:15.240
trials are particularly difficult to take to
trial due to the lack of evidence to

155
00:13:15.279 --> 00:13:20.200
prove anything either way. The police, however, had decided to take this

156
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.919
case to trial, and it would
turn out that the evidence was entirely circumstantial.

157
00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:31.399
Brian Myering's trial did not end up
taking place until November of nineteen ninety

158
00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:35.960
nine, and in the time in
between, Anne's family were trying to get

159
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.480
to grips with the news that police
believe that Anne had been murdered and most

160
00:13:39.519 --> 00:13:46.159
importantly, they didn't know where her
body was. In December of nineteen ninety

161
00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.480
seven, Anne's family and the Avon
and Somerset police spoke to the press.

162
00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:54.679
Anne's sister Jane told the grief that
they were feeling at not being able to

163
00:13:54.759 --> 00:14:01.000
put her to rest or knowing what
happened. She said on Christmas Day,

164
00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:05.960
it will be six months since her
disappearance. The family have accepted that she's

165
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.759
no longer alive and that the police
are searching for her body. At this

166
00:14:09.799 --> 00:14:13.879
most difficult time of year, we're
looking for any news that will locate Anne's

167
00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:18.519
body. It will help us greatly
if she's brought home to her family so

168
00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:22.919
that she can be properly laid to
rest. We can't grieve as we have

169
00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:30.399
nothing to grieve over. Yet this
feeling of limbo must have been even more

170
00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:37.159
excruciating given that they believe that Anne
had been murdered. Avon and Somerset Police

171
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:41.799
spokesperson said at this time of year, families come together and it's common practice

172
00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:46.519
for them to go out on walks
in the countryside or beauty spots. We're

173
00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.919
asking people while they do this to
keep an eye out for clothing scattered about

174
00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:58.679
in beauty spots or possibly an abandoned
suitcase. By this point, Brian Myern

175
00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:03.080
could been released on bail pending his
trial for her murder, and police were

176
00:15:03.080 --> 00:15:07.720
hopeful, but by the time that
that came around, they may have located

177
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:13.840
Anne's body. During the summer of
nineteen ninety eight, police searched several areas

178
00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:18.039
to find her. They knew that
she was a keen rambler and that she

179
00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:22.480
enjoyed the countryside, and so they
began to focus their attention on these kinds

180
00:15:22.480 --> 00:15:26.519
of areas. They searched the area
of tog Hill, which is a picnic

181
00:15:26.600 --> 00:15:33.360
spot around fifteen miles away from Anne's
home. They searched the area for around

182
00:15:33.399 --> 00:15:37.279
four days before moving the search to
Woodland in the area of Wick, less

183
00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:43.039
than two miles from tog Hill.
Many of her favorite walking areas were checked,

184
00:15:43.320 --> 00:15:46.360
and at the end of July it
was confirmed that an area close to

185
00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:54.159
the Gloucestershire Force Area was going to
be searched. Shortly after this announcement of

186
00:15:54.240 --> 00:15:58.919
further searches, Brian Myering was in
court at a hearing he pleaded not guilty

187
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:06.000
to the charges of murder. His
trial eventually took place in nineteen ninety nine,

188
00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:10.879
and the prosecution set a case out
where Brian Myering intentionally set out to

189
00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:17.000
murder his wife due to his obsessive
affair with Teresa Kempster. They alleged that

190
00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.799
he wanted to get Anne out of
the way so he could pursue this relationship,

191
00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:26.600
and this was a substantial motive to
murder her. The defense stated that

192
00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:30.639
they had no evidence that Brian had
killed his wife or that she was even

193
00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:37.120
deceased. More insight into Anna and
Brian's relationship was gained at the trial,

194
00:16:37.399 --> 00:16:41.720
with Brian stating that Anne had been
siphoning money out of their joint account before

195
00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:47.080
she went missing, and that they
had been arguing about this. Brian stated

196
00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:51.159
that Anna had taken around fifteen thousand
pounds out of their account and that she

197
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:55.559
had made a withdrawal of around nine
hundred and twenty pounds before she went missing.

198
00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:00.240
The prosecution, however, led by
Paul Chad QC, said this was

199
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:07.920
untrue and actually CCTV footage showed that
this transaction was made by Brian Myering himself.

200
00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:12.720
Paul Chad explained it became clear to
the police that the only person to

201
00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:18.079
benefit from her disappearance was her husband. This was a carefully schemed murder of

202
00:17:18.119 --> 00:17:22.599
his wife. He also stated that
Myering had got to the end of his

203
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:27.720
tether when it appeared that Anne was
not just leaving him. Brian stated that

204
00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:32.400
they had gone for a drive on
the evening of the twenty fifth of January,

205
00:17:32.599 --> 00:17:37.200
and they argued out of earshot of
their youngest son. He said that

206
00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:41.240
the argument had not been resolved and
that Anne told him that she was leaving

207
00:17:41.319 --> 00:17:47.559
him. During the trial, the
jury also heard that Brian had been in

208
00:17:47.599 --> 00:17:52.559
possession of Anne's bank card. Teresa
Kempster took to the stand to give some

209
00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:57.440
insight into their relationship. She said
that her husband had found out about the

210
00:17:57.480 --> 00:18:00.759
affair and had attacked Brian, and
when he saw them in the car together.

211
00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:06.559
Anne had also found out after seeing
them meet at a service station.

212
00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:11.559
Reportedly, Brian had denied having an
affair when approached by police initially, then

213
00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:17.920
admitted to it later on. The
prosecution set out that they had checked on

214
00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:22.160
hospitals and solicitors and all lines of
inquirer exhausted when trying to locate her,

215
00:18:22.519 --> 00:18:29.240
suggesting that it was obvious that she
was no longer alive. They also explained

216
00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:33.440
that Anne had left too many of
her belongings behind, including a treasured family

217
00:18:33.480 --> 00:18:37.960
heirloom, and that she had booked
a holiday and a hair appointment, implying

218
00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:44.279
that she hadn't planned to leave.
On his part, Brian Myrene denied all

219
00:18:44.279 --> 00:18:48.759
the allegations against him. He explained
that he had noticed that Anne was taking

220
00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:52.000
money out of the account, and
he had confronted her about it on the

221
00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:56.799
car journey, saying he believed she'd
taken it out. When asked by Anthony

222
00:18:56.920 --> 00:19:02.240
Arledge, QC, defending did you
kill your wife in the course of that

223
00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:07.039
journey or at any other time,
Brian replied no. When he was questioned

224
00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.960
about why he'd delayed in telling authorities
that she was missing, he said that

225
00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:15.880
he didn't want to worry her mom
about her disappearance, as she was having

226
00:19:15.880 --> 00:19:21.799
an operation and he was convinced that
she had just left him. Towards the

227
00:19:21.880 --> 00:19:26.039
end of the trial, the prosecution
made some admissions to the defense, saying

228
00:19:26.039 --> 00:19:32.000
that Brian Myering had cooperated fully with
analysis of his bank accounts and forensic examination

229
00:19:32.079 --> 00:19:37.480
of his clothing and vehicles. They
also stated that four of Anne's bank cards

230
00:19:37.480 --> 00:19:41.839
had never been found and searches had
found no trace of Anne. There was

231
00:19:41.880 --> 00:19:45.720
no forensic link to Brian, and
Anne had not been recovered, and so

232
00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:52.799
there was no concrete evidence that she
was dead. The case against Brian was

233
00:19:52.839 --> 00:19:57.880
circumstantial and it was unclear how it
was going to conclude. The jury took

234
00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.319
the case and within just two and
a half hours they were back with a

235
00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:07.680
verdict. They found Brian Myering not
guilty of the murder of his wife.

236
00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:15.839
Brian was visibly relieved at the news
and was pleased with the result. Outside

237
00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:21.240
court, Detective Chief Inspector Jeff Anderson
said the case was still open. He

238
00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:26.759
said, this has been a difficult
investigation and unusual circumstances, and as far

239
00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:30.680
as we're concerned, Anne my Ring
is dead, we would welcome any information

240
00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:34.839
which might lead to the whereabouts of
her body so that her family might finalize

241
00:20:34.880 --> 00:20:41.799
their grieving process. The outcome of
the trial was disappointing for the police,

242
00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:45.839
who had taken this as far as
they could with the circumstantial evidence that they

243
00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:51.200
had. It must have also been
very distressing and confusing for Anne's family.

244
00:20:52.599 --> 00:20:56.200
Ann's brother Mark told the press in
the days after the acquittal, listening to

245
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:02.359
the evidence has been hell At times
has been too much to bear. They're

246
00:21:02.400 --> 00:21:07.759
not guilty. Verdict means the story
is not closed. He also stated that

247
00:21:07.799 --> 00:21:11.000
the family had known for a while
that Anne was dead, but that they

248
00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:17.039
now needed to find her body to
find closure. Anne's sons must have also

249
00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:19.759
been going through the worst time of
their lives, given that their mother was

250
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:26.680
missing and their father could have gone
to prison for her murder. David and

251
00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:30.559
Stephen, as well as their father, spoke to the Independent newspaper in two

252
00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:34.640
thousand, three years after Anne's disappearance
and a year after Brian was acquitted.

253
00:21:37.079 --> 00:21:41.759
Brian gave the paper a statement which
read, I was very surprised I was

254
00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:45.039
arrested as there was no forensic evidence
at all, no history of violence,

255
00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:49.279
and there had been several sightings of
Anne around the country, with three in

256
00:21:49.319 --> 00:21:53.720
an area that Anne knew, although
myself, David or Stephen had not been

257
00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:59.640
told of any sighting. I suppose
the worst thing is the two years I

258
00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:03.440
spent away from my family on bail. David was only fifteen, going into

259
00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:07.359
his final year at school, and
for some four months I was not allowed

260
00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:12.759
to see or talk to him.
This initial period was very traumatic for myself

261
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:19.000
and for David. David and Stephen
stated that they do not believe that their

262
00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:23.279
father had anything to do with their
mother's death, and described Brian saying,

263
00:22:25.160 --> 00:22:30.000
we couldn't imagine anyone like him ever
doing something like that. He's never hit

264
00:22:30.160 --> 00:22:33.319
us, never shown any violence towards
anybody. Really, He's really nice.

265
00:22:33.559 --> 00:22:40.079
I just don't think it's feasible.
Stephen is equally adamant. I'm the best

266
00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:44.119
person at winding anybody up, and
Dad has never ever raised a hand.

267
00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:48.480
He's quite mellow. Actually, he's
got a good sense of humor as well.

268
00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:53.759
It never, ever, not once
entered my mind at all. David,

269
00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:57.799
Stephen, and Brian explained that they
believe that Anne is still alive and

270
00:22:57.920 --> 00:23:03.599
don't accept that she has died.
They hoped that they would see her again

271
00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:08.160
and that she would get in contact. David stated, we're all encouraging each

272
00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:11.160
other to try and do as much
as we can to try and find her.

273
00:23:11.920 --> 00:23:17.119
I'm not bothered about her reasons.
I'm more concerned about her making contact.

274
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:19.559
If she came back, I wouldn't
even ask where she'd been. I

275
00:23:19.599 --> 00:23:23.799
would just be crying. I'd be
so happy. I would rather take the

276
00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:29.359
positive approach. There is lack of
evidence both ways, but I'd rather be

277
00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.680
more positive. I'm always going to
believe that she's alive. There has never

278
00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:37.960
been any significant evidence as far as
I'm concerned to say that she's dead.

279
00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.640
Brian also said I would like to
say to Anne, come back. I

280
00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:48.160
know it means facing up to a
lot but the boys miss you a lot.

281
00:23:48.319 --> 00:23:52.759
Although we shall never be together,
the first twenty years of marriage was

282
00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:59.960
very good, and i'd like to
know that you're all right. Stephen explain

283
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:03.279
Lane that he's gutted by his mother's
disappearance and that he still wears her gold

284
00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:07.519
necklace, and since she disappeared,
he had had a daughter and he'd given

285
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:12.240
her the middle name of Anne.
He said, with my job, I'm

286
00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:15.160
out on the road on my own, driving about, and you've got to

287
00:24:15.160 --> 00:24:19.640
think about something. Unfortunately, it
always seems to be about my mum and

288
00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:26.079
where she can be. I do
still cry about it. There's no doubt

289
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:30.880
that Anne's disappearance had an incomprehensible effect
on her son's and her whole family.

290
00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:36.200
But when Anne's mother, Gwendolen was
spoken to for the same article, she

291
00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:41.720
had a different outlook on her daughter's
disappearance. She believed that Anne had been

292
00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:45.079
murdered and that she was not just
going to walk back through the door.

293
00:24:45.079 --> 00:24:48.920
She stated, David was the apple
of her eye. She would never have

294
00:24:49.039 --> 00:24:53.720
walked out on those boys. Ever. She'll never come back. She's dead

295
00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:59.039
and that's all there is to it. I had cancer five and a half

296
00:24:59.119 --> 00:25:02.400
years ago. There's no way my
daughter would not have looked after me.

297
00:25:02.759 --> 00:25:07.240
We were like that. She was
my best friend, not just a daughter.

298
00:25:07.039 --> 00:25:10.920
She would come and take me out
once a week, sometimes twice.

299
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:17.039
She idolized her husband. I'm not
very happy about them wanting their mother to

300
00:25:17.079 --> 00:25:22.400
come home when it's absolutely impossible.
I think it's very sad. She was

301
00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:27.680
my daughter. She was my flesh
and blood. Gwendoline by this point in

302
00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:32.559
two thousand, had lost her voice
box due to the spread of cancer and

303
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:37.480
had to use a voice in hancer. She was described as being visibly angry

304
00:25:37.480 --> 00:25:41.400
about the situation, and it's stated
in the article that the two sides of

305
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:47.279
the family now no longer speak.
This is such a sad story and the

306
00:25:47.319 --> 00:25:51.559
fact that Anne's close family has been
ripped apart by not only her disappearance,

307
00:25:51.759 --> 00:26:03.400
but also by the trial and then
acquittal of Brian. In the years following

308
00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:07.559
the trial, David and Stephen continue
trying to locate their mother, with a

309
00:26:07.640 --> 00:26:12.279
poster campaign in areas where Anne had
links to and a feature in Big Issue

310
00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:18.440
magazine to appeal for her return.
At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Jeff

311
00:26:18.480 --> 00:26:23.960
Anderson from Avon and Somerset Police,
who was leading the investigation, stated that

312
00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:30.839
they believe that Anne was dead.
He told the Independent newspaper does a woman

313
00:26:30.920 --> 00:26:34.480
leave home leaving nine single shoes,
all her makeup, her jewelry and all

314
00:26:34.519 --> 00:26:40.000
her money. Her mother was ill
with cancer and she was very supportive of

315
00:26:40.039 --> 00:26:44.640
that. She was very supportive of
her children. There was a huge amount

316
00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:48.839
of circumstantial evidence that suggests this woman
had not left that home on her own

317
00:26:48.880 --> 00:26:56.480
volition, carrying two suitcases with all
her belongings. Police have remained convinced that

318
00:26:56.519 --> 00:27:00.200
Anne is dead and that they were
looking for her remains. However, these

319
00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.400
have never been located. It would
appear that her bank accounts remained untouched.

320
00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:10.119
However, seven years after she disappeared, a sighting of someone fitting her description

321
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:15.559
in Leeds was reported David and Stephen
Ups the poster campaign in the area.

322
00:27:15.799 --> 00:27:18.880
However, this did not locate Anne
or figure out if this sighting was her.

323
00:27:22.799 --> 00:27:26.839
While doing the podcast, all of
the cases are tinged with sadness as

324
00:27:26.880 --> 00:27:33.119
they're all unsolved, but sometimes some
cases really affect me. This is one

325
00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:36.200
of them, and I think it's
because of the damage that has been done

326
00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:41.279
to Anne's family as a result of
her disappearance, Brian's trial and later acquittal.

327
00:27:41.519 --> 00:27:45.640
Her family seems to have been broken
beyond repair by it, and while

328
00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:51.359
there hasn't been many updates and articles
since two thousand, it's clear that the

329
00:27:51.400 --> 00:27:56.440
opinions and thoughts of all the family
members are very different. David and Stephen

330
00:27:56.519 --> 00:28:00.400
want to remain hopeful that their mother
did just walk away and was alive.

331
00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:06.119
However, police and Anne side of
the family believe that she is no longer

332
00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:11.799
alive. The questions that remain are
numerous. What happened to Anne that night?

333
00:28:12.359 --> 00:28:17.359
Where did she go, Why did
she not take any useful belongings with

334
00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:21.519
her, Why has she not touched
her bank accounts? And why did she

335
00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:27.200
leave her car? All of this
is unclear, and I completely understand her

336
00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:33.720
son's desire to remain hopeful. The
facts we do know, though, is

337
00:28:33.720 --> 00:28:37.480
that Brian Myering has been acquitted of
all charges, and that police still maintain

338
00:28:37.559 --> 00:28:41.079
that Anne is dead and that they
are on the recovery for her remains.

339
00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:48.480
Since her disappearance, nothing has been
found to pinpoint where she is or what

340
00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:52.920
happened to her. Anne is still
missing, and her disappearance and potential murder

341
00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:57.880
is still unsolved. Without her body, there does appear to be little chance

342
00:28:57.920 --> 00:29:03.519
of any progress being made. Are
without any more sightings, her location will

343
00:29:03.559 --> 00:29:07.960
be tricky to figure out. I
really do hope that her family can finally

344
00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:12.640
get some closure and that soon there
will be some information or evidence forthcoming.

345
00:29:14.720 --> 00:29:18.920
They deserve answers, and David and
Stephen deserve to know what happened to their

346
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:25.200
mom. If you know anything about
the disappearance of annem Ring in nineteen ninety

347
00:29:25.200 --> 00:29:30.839
seven, then please contact Avon and
Somerset Police at one oh one. Thank

348
00:29:30.880 --> 00:29:34.839
you for listening to today's episode.
If you'd like to support the podcast further,

349
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:38.920
then you can on Patreon and contribute
to the exclusive polls to get extra

350
00:29:38.960 --> 00:29:45.000
bonus episodes every month. You can
also get access to new episodes early and

351
00:29:45.039 --> 00:29:48.759
add free. You can use the
link in the show notes to visit Patreon

352
00:29:48.839 --> 00:29:52.200
and see what we offer. You
can also support us by reviewing the podcast

353
00:29:52.240 --> 00:29:57.720
wherever you listen, including Spotify,
and also just share the episodes. You

354
00:29:57.759 --> 00:30:03.200
can subscribe on YouTube and followers on
social media. You can also now subscribe

355
00:30:03.200 --> 00:30:07.359
and listen to my new podcast,
ten Minute True Crime, which tells infamous

356
00:30:07.400 --> 00:30:11.480
crimes in a sharp form bite sized
ten minutes for people on the go or

357
00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:15.920
who just like the facts. Find
that wherever you listen, and in the

358
00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:22.720
show notes, as always, I'm
Caprice and this has been unseen

