Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing
people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today's episode five of twelve
episodes of missing person cases throughout December. Today we're going to be covering the
disappearance of Dr David Lidgey from his home in Norfolk in twenty eleven. He
left behind his wife and his children, and his disappearance baffled everyone who knew
him. This episode is about a missing person and so does not contain any
graphic descriptions. However, it does contain some descriptions of possible mental illness,
so listener discretion is always advised. Hillgay is a village around four miles from
the town of Downham Market in Norfolk. It's a small village which had only
around thirteen hundred people as recorded in the twenty eleven census. It's a small
place, with a lot of the facilities being in down a Market which has
a train station with links to London's King's Cross and another town, King's Lynn
in Norfolk. Doctors David and Shonah lidge lived in the town of Hillgay in
twenty eleven with their three children. The family had moved from London four years
previously, and the couple had met while on a GP training course in nineteen
ninety five. Shona would later say that David was a devoted father who loved
to play boisterous games with his children and was very interested in instilling his own
love of sport. Shona later said that she loved him totally and that he
was both a good husband and a good father to their children. Despite this,
Shona would later say that David wasn't completely happy with his life in Norfolk.
She stated that in early twenty eleven, David had gone into what she
described as a depressive episode. Shona had found it relatively easy to find a
job in Norfolk and had been offered a GP partnership. However, David had
struggled and did not enjoy the lowcome temporary position that he had. Shonah said
that this had been a source of dissatisfaction, but that this seemed to be
the culmination of problems that had been building for a while. Shooner explained that
this was not the first time that David had suffered with depression, and he
had been affected by some traumatic events that had happened to him in his life.
She explained that as a young doctor, one of his closest friends had
taken their own life. Then, in two thousand and one, both of
his parents had died within a very short time of each other, which had
caused him great distress. Working in southeast London had also caused David to become
worried about his and the family's safety, as on one occasion he had to
protect a mother and daughter from a man who badged into his GP surgery with
a knife. On another occasion, he was attacked by someone with a hammer
due to a road rage incident. All of these things had left David feeling
worried and unhappy with his life in London, and it was at this point
that he decided moving to the countryside would be the best idea for him and
his family. This, however, also did not turn out the way that
he had hoped it would. David would have depressive episodes sporadically throughout his relationship
with Shona. However, when he was approached about possibly getting help about it,
he would shrug it off. He would only discuss this with Shona,
and no one else knew about the extent of his troubles. He told Shona
that he believed that it would affect the way in which others saw him,
including his colleagues. Shona stated to the Mirror newspaper in twenty twenty two.
Of course that wasn't true because his care would have been confidential and the medical
profession deals with this illness every day. But David felt he had to deal
with the condition in his own way, an all too common male approach to
depression. The irony is he was very good at helping other depress people.
Ex Patients have phoned me up saying how wonderful he was with them. It's
so sad his pride didn't allow him to take that help himself. The move
didn't work out for him, but I also feel that he had some unresolved
problems that had been building for years. Shona added in the Daily Mail.
It was a really difficult time. David was very angry and bitter, and
I felt him withdrawing from the family. He really wasn't talking to me at
all. He spoke constantly of moving again, but the children were settled in
new schools and we couldn't afford to go back to London. On the morning
of the twenty ninth of June, twenty eleven, David dropped the children off
at school as usual. Shona later recalled that while dropping the children off was
part of the usual routine, the couple had had an argument that morning before
he left. She said that they had been discussing her plans to take the
children to Alton Towers on a weekend that David was working. Shonah had not
seen a problem with these plans, as she later said that David hated theme
parks and would not have wanted to go anyway. David, however, was
upset and angry about the fact that they would be going without him, and
Shonah said she was surprised by his reaction. She stated, though, that
by the time he left to take the kids to school and she left for
work, he seemed more of his normal self. Shona left for work,
but later on that morning she received a text from David. The text said
that he felt unwell and he was going to take the day off. Shona
returned home later on that day, but David wasn't there. Instead of David,
there was a handwritten note which read gone for a walk. David was
known to go on long walks on the fence, and so the fact that
he went for a walk was not out of the ordinary. There were some
worrying things though. David had left behind many of his belongings, In fact,
pretty much all of his belongings. Shona said, I kept calling his
mobile phone, but he wouldn't answer. Then, after some time I realized
I could hear it ringing upstairs in the bedroom. He left his car,
passport, wallet, all of his credit cards, even the loose change in
his pockets. All he took were the house keys. Shona also added that
David had left behind his leather and tool and a tag Huer watch, which
which had been both gifts from her. She said, it felt like a
very personal message to me that he was leaving and wasn't coming back. It
was as if he'd just shed a life he didn't want any more. When
David didn't return, Shona became worried, and the fact that he'd left all
of these important belongings behind made his family all the more concerned. There were
no real indications as to where David had gone, and the only known sighting
of him that day was by a neighbor who saw him return home around forty
minutes after setting out to take the children to school. David's family were worried,
but also knew that this was not the first time that he had left
the home in recent months. Shona would later explain that six weeks before the
day he disappeared, she and David had had another trivial argument and David had
left the home and driven off in his car. Shonah said he wouldn't answer
his phone or write a text, and the children were really upset. Shown
arang the police because she was worried about his mental well being. David was
very apologetic when he came back the next morning. He told me he realized
how silly it had been and promised it would never happen again. This has
an eerie similarity to what happened on the morning of June the twenty ninth,
and this was something that he had done before. Where had he gone and
why had he left behind all of his belongings. He actually addressed this previous
disappearance on June the twenty ninth as he took his children to school. His
son Arthur explained this, saying, in the car, my father kept apologizing
to us, saying how sorry he was for upsetting us by leaving a few
weeks earlier, he told us how much he loved us. That was the
last thing we ever heard him say. This would also not be the only
time that David would speak about leaving his home and his family. Shooner explained
that she found out that around nine months before his disappearance, David had approached
a former colleague of his that worked in London and asked them for a reference
for a job. David said he wanted to move to Australia. When he
was asked if it was just him or the family as well, he apparently
replied, no, I'm going by myself. It's my sanity or my family.
These incidents prior to David's disappearance, of course, were a concern and
made David's family worry that something similar could have happened this time. This time,
however, David did not return like the previous occasion, and Shona began
to search for her husband. There didn't seem to be any information about where
David had gone, and without being able to trace his mobile phone, his
movements were unknown. After he went missing, there were some sightings of him
which were phoned into police. Its reported that a man matching his description was
seen at five a m. In a road in Leicester, where David used
to live as a medical student. It stated that this man called up at
a window and was searching for his former landlord. There was also another sighting
at a football match in the city. It reported that the charity Missing People
supported the family by distributing posters across the country and by putting adverts in classified
ads. They also set up a dedicated phone line and helped to follow up
leads that came up. Despite this, however, little information seemed to be
forthcoming. Shown A later said about this time, I was so desperate I
wanted to climb up Big Ben and shout, Where's David? How do I
find him? It was horrendous. We missed him so much. None of
us will ever fully recover from it. It has maimed us in a way.
A year after David went missing, shown Her explained that something else took
over her life when David and Shona's son Arthur became ill. Shooner explained that
as much as she wanted to find David, her children had to come first.
Arthur had been devastated by his father's disappearance, and as a result,
he had struggled with his weight. This had reportedly plummeted to around six stone
three pounds and he became very ill. Shonah said, I felt that I
just couldn't search for David anymore because he was an adult and Arthur was a
child and needed me more. Ruth was in the middle of her GCSEs and
also suffering. It was just dreadful, and I felt completely distressed and also
angry. I decided he'd have to come and find us. We stopped looking.
Shona also explained how life was after David's disas appearance and gave an insight
into many of the practicalities that come with having a loved one disappear. Shona
said that as the house was in both of their names, she was unable
to sell it, but struggled to pay for it with just one wage.
This meant that she had to borrow money to try and keep the family afloat.
This must have been devastating for a family that were already struggling with loss.
It would take seven years for David to be declared legally dead at the
High Court, and it was at this point that Shona was able to sell
the house and clear the debts that had accrued over the years. It was
also around this time in twenty eighteen that Shona received some extremely disturbing communication from
somebody who said that they were David. One day, she received a message
on her landline. The message said, I have just been away for a
while. I'm coming home on a plane. Should be with you soon.
Please have a news paper for me. This was worrying as Shona's landline was
ex directory and was not publicly available for anyone to just find. Shona said
that she decided to text the number and had quite a long text communication with
them. She later recalled, I thought who is that? So I text
the number and we had a long text dialogue and this person kept insisting it
was David, and I kept disbelieving that it was. Asking for proof.
You'd say things like I've been in India for a long time in Australia and
I haven't got a smartphone and I can't send a picture. When I tried
to call the number, no one answered. The same person text her elder
son saying is that you Arthur. I don't want to cause you anguish,
but you'll be seeing me soon DL. It was very upsetting. I contacted
the police because this person said some personal things which made me think it could
be David, and his writing style was very similar, and how could this
person have our numbers? Shona said that the police attempted to trace the number
to find out who had been sending the messages, but could only tell that
the phone had been in London, but they could not find out who had
been sending the messages. Shona said the police were incredibly helpful, but they
were unable to find out who it was. Then one day when I tried
to send a message, the line was out of service, so we'll never
know. She also stated that she believed that the timing of these messages could
have been the result of her application to declare David dead in twenty eighteen.
She said, I don't know if it was David or some crank, but
in my heart I do feel that David is still alive. If not from
David, then who would be cruel enough to send me messages claiming to be
him. I can't think of anyone who would want to hurt us that much.
This is sadly something which has come up in other missing person cases,
where people insert themselves and all that happens is that they hurt the family who
is grieving the loss of a loved one. David's family have all come together
are extremely close today. They have been resolute in the fact that they just
want answers as to what happened to David, and they want to know that
he is okay. David's starter, Ruth said, for a long time,
I avoided even thinking about it, but I now feel I need to know
what happened to my father. When someone dies, you can grieve and move
on, but when someone you love goes missing, there is nothing but uncertainty,
even though life carries on. If he's alive, I'd like to have
him back in our lives in some way, no matter how difficult that might
be for all of us. Their son Arthur said, I can't see how
a person can live for so long completely off radar, without leaving any trace,
but I would like some kind of resolution. Shona has stated that she
does not believe that David would have taken his own life, saying that his
sense of self preservation was too strong. She said, I'd like him to
know that he's still loved by us. I may no longer love him as
a wife, There's been too much pain and heartache for that, but I
will always love him as the father of our children. Shona and her three
children mark David's disappearance every year and they hope that they will get answers as
to what happened and give them some closure. If you know anything about the
disappearance of David Lidgey in twenty eleven, then please contact the police on one
oh one or the charity Missing People. I will link the website and David's
profile on there, so please go and take a look. Thank you for
listening to day five of twelve Days of Missing Person episodes throughout December. Please
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I'm Caprice and this has been unseen, sh