Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing
people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today, we're going to
be doing something a little different with our episode about a missing person, and
we're going to be doing an update episode of sorts. Following on from my
episode about the disappearance of Anne my Ring, which was published in April of
this year, I had the pleasure of communicating with one of Anne's sons,
David. He spoke to me about the impact that his mother's disappearances had on
him and his family, and he added more detail to the initial episode that
I did. I wanted to put out an update episode just for clarity and
to make sure that I could include the things that David told me. I'm
going to add the initial episode to the beginning of this one so that you
can either refresh your memories about the case, or so that you can listen
to it if you haven't already. If you have already listened and remember it
well, then skip forward to around the thirty minute mark. This episode does
not contain any graphic details. However, it does concern a missing person,
so listener discretion is always advised. This is the first of these episodes,
and today we're covering the nineteen ninety seven disappearance of Admiring from South Gloucestershire.
This is a case with so many twists and turns and some developments over the
years, but her disappearance is still a mystery and it remains unsolved. This
episode is about a missing person and so does not contain any descriptions of violence,
but listener discretion is always advised. Stoke Gifford is a village located in
the south of the County of Gloucestershire. In two thousand and one, the
village had around eleven thousand residents. However, in twenty years this number has
almost doubled. It's around seven miles from the city of Bristol and there far
as an area where many people commute to and from on a daily basis.
It's a relatively quiet and peaceful area. However, its proximity to several head
offices meant that it was an area where people would travel to for work.
One of these couples who had made their careers in and around Stoke Gifford was
Brian and Anne my Ring. Brian and Anne were married with two sons,
David and Stephen. Brian worked at the Rolls Royce facility in nearby Filton,
Bristol, and Anne worked as a clerical officer at the computer company Hewlett Packard.
The couple met in nineteen seventy one when they were in their late teens
a pub named a New Inn. They'd hit it off very quickly, and
they married and moved to Chevining close in Stoke, Gifford. Together. The
pair had their two sons, and it's reported that Anne put her career on
hold to raise her children. Both Brian and Anne were involved with the local
community, and particularly in the cub and Scout groups in Filton. In Bristol,
the couple were well liked and Anne was known as a caring and thoughtful
person who was close to her family and did everything to try and help them.
During nineteen ninety seven, Anne and her family were dealing with a very
stressful situation when Anne's mother, Gwendolyn, was diagnosed with throat cancer. Anne
was constantly with her and by her side, getting her through the treatments.
Gwendolen would later describe Anne as her best friend and not just her daughter.
This must have added a great deal of stress. The Myring family. However,
Anne continued to look after only her mother, but her family as well.
Her son David later described her as a warm and caring mum who always
showed him affection and love. He said she was really caring, always there,
intelligent as well. She liked doing crosswords and that a metal detecting she
used to find quite a few coins. Stephen An's other son also described her
in the same way, stating she was a real kind, caring person.
I could speak to her about many things and she was always there for us.
The Myring family appeared to be just like any other family, with teenagers
always busy, but also trying to make plans for their own futures when their
children flew the nest. By nineteen ninety seven, Anne and Brian were forty
four and forty five years old and were enjoying their lives. This so called
normal life that the family were living, however, was rocked. In July
nineteen ninety seven. The Myring family had been almost ripped apart by an unexpected
incident. Anne had left a family home and hadn't returned, and it had
been several weeks since any one in her family had seen her. This was
so out of character, and everyone who knew Anne didn't understand where she had
gone or what could have happened. She hadn't been reported missing for a few
weeks since she had last been seen, and the events surrounding that last day
were relatively unclear. That day, Anne Miring headed to work at Hewlett Packard
as she usually did. Her colleagues didn't report anything different about her that day
or anything out of the ordinary that she said or did. Anne allegedly told
them that she was going to head home and then she was off out for
a meal with her husband Brian that night. This of course, didn't ring
any alarm bells and sounded like any usual evening to her colleagues. Anne left
Hewlett Packard at the end of her work day, and her sons David and
Stephen saw her that night. When she got home. The next day,
however, was a different story. They both later recalled that the next morning
their mother wasn't there. When they asked where she was, their father,
Brian, told them that Anne had gone away to a health farm for the
rest of that week and the weekend. While this seemed a little out of
the blue, David and Stephen seemed to accept this explanation until the following morning,
when the weekend had ended and their mum had still not returned. At
this point, Brian told his sons that Anne had actually left him and there
had been problems with the relationship. This shocked David and Stephen, as they
hadn't been aware that anything was wrong, especially to the extent that their mother
would have left the family home. David later commented on how he felt at
the time hearing this new piece of information. He told the Independent newspaper,
Me and Steve were really shocked. We didn't think anything was going wrong with
the relationship. Apparently they had been arguing quite a lot that week and going
out on regular drives to chat about it away from us. I think it
was about money. The fact that their parents were having problems in their marriage
wasn't the most shocking part. It was the fact that Anne had simply left
the home and then behind without contacting anyone at all. This seemed so unlike
her and couldn't really be explained. When Anne hadn't returned, she was officially
reported missing to the police. Brian later stated that he didn't report her missing
straight away as he thought she had left him. It was only when a
family member also noticed her absence that they officially reported her missing. Brian had
contacted the police about her disappearance, However, this was done informally and an
official report had not been made before this point. The police were able to
establish that she had last been seen on the twenty fifth of June, and
they attempted to figure out where she could have gone next. They had established
that Anne had driven her Voxhall Carlton car home and that the car remained there
despite Anne's absence. They also discovered that Anne had already booked off the next
day, Thursday, the twenty sixth of June. When police looked into her
bank account activity, they discovered that Anne had not accessed her account or used
any credit or debit cards, and she had also not picked up four hundred
pounds in wages that she was owed from her job. If she had vanished
of her own volition, then why had she not told anyone where she was
and how was she going to live her life without contacting them. When her
belongings were checked, heard that she had taken some of her belongings, like
some clothing. However, there were some odd features particularly the fact that she
had not taken her makeup, her jewelry, and seemed to have left behind
nine single shoes. The police were not convinced that Anne would have just walked
away, and neither were her family. Anne's younger sister, Jane, spoke
to the press at the time that Anne went missing. She stated, We're
all very worried about Anne and just want to hear from her. It's very
stressful. Our mother has had an operation for cancer and this isn't helping her
recovery. We're a very close family and it's very out of character for Anne
not to keep in touch. She was devoted to her boys. She has
never left home like this before. We have no idea why she has disappeared,
and there is nothing obvious that would make her go, and she's never
done it before. We just believe that she was unhappy. We have no
clues as to where she is. The fact that Anne's mother had had an
operation and Anne had not checked in to see what the results were was also
alarming, given how close Anne and her mum were and how hard she'd been
working to look after her after her cancer diagnosis. Anne's family contacted the missing
person's Bureau for help in trying to locate her, and they supported the family
by printing hundreds of posters and flyers with Anne's information. These were distributed in
the hope that someone had seen her and could help. Her disappearance was so
strange and so unlike her that no one understood what could have happened. Brian
made an appeal to the public about his wife, saying their sons were missing
her terribly. He said, I would like to appeal to Anne to get
in touch with their children. We're coping okay, but the boys are desperate
to hear from her. It appeared that Brian and his children were hoping that
Anne would return home and that there would be some reasonable nation for why she
had disappeared. Over the next several months, there would continue to be some
hope that Anne would return. However, as the weeks then months passed,
this was a harder and harder to believe. There were no known reasons why
Anne would leave, and particularly why she wouldn't tell her children where she was.
Her family and the police were increasingly worried about her safety. By October
nineteen ninety seven, Anne had still not returned, and it was this month
that there was a new development in the case. Regional and national newspapers reported
that there had been two arrests made. The articles described how the arrests had
taken place at Chevening Close in Stoke, Gifford. The arrests had been made
at the Myring family home. Brian Myring and a woman had been arrested in
relation to the murder of Anne my Ring. This shocking development was unexpected and
raised many questions for those that heard about it. One of the main questions
was who was the woman who'd been arrested with him at his home. This
would become clear and the woman's name would be revealed as Teresa Kempster, who
was thirty eight at the time. It would turn out that Brian and Teresa
were having an affair and that they had been for the previous two years.
Teresa was also married, and the pair had met at the Cubs and Scouts
group that the couple were involved with. This relationship was apparently quite well known
to other people who knew the couple, and Anne had found out about it.
However, she seemed to be one of the last people to know about
this affair. It was reported that despite knowing about the affair, Anne was
happy to stay with Brian and wanted to make it work. Anne's mother stated
that Anne idolised Brian. The shocking news that Brian had been arrested and that
he was also having a long term affair during his marriage to Anne was sensational
and articles began to come out about the evidence that the police had against Brian
and even possibly Theresa Kempster. Police soon let Theresa go without any charges,
but they did formally charge Brian Myering with the murder of his wife. Many
people speculated about what the evidence exactly was to charge Brian, and the fact
they hadn't yet found Anne was something else concerning about the case. If Brian
had murdered her, where was her body? Nobody. Murder trials are particularly
difficult to take to trial due to the lack of evidence to prove anything either
way. The police, however, had decided to take this case to trial,
and it would turn out that the evidence was entirely circumstantial. Brian Iiring's
trial did not end up taking place until November of nineteen ninety nine, and
in the time in between, Anne's family were trying to get to grips with
the news. That police believe that Anne had been murdered, and most importantly,
they didn't know where her body was. In December of nineteen ninety seven,
Anne's family and the Avon and Somerset Police spoke to the press. Anne's
sister Jane told the grief that they were feeling at not being able to put
her to rest or knowing what happened. She said. On Christmas Day,
it will be six months since her disappearance. The family have accepted that she's
no longer alive and that the police are searching for her body. At this
most difficult time of year, we're looking for any news that will locate Anne's
body. It will help us greatly if she's brought home to her family so
that she can be properly laid to rest. We can't grieve as we have
nothing to grieve over. Yet this feeling of limbo must have been even more
excruciating given that they believed that Anne had been murdered. Avon and Somerset Police
spokespersons said at this time of year, families come together and its common practice
for them to go out on walks in the countryside or beauty spots. We're
asking people while They do this to keep an eye out for clothing scattered about
in beauty spots, or possibly an abandoned suitcase. By this point, Brian
Myern had been released on bail pending his trial for her murder, and police
were hopeful, but by the time that that came around, they may have
located Anne's body. During the summer of nineteen ninety eight, police searched several
areas to find her. They knew that she was a keen rambler and that
she enjoyed the countryside, and so they began to focus their attention on these
kinds of areas. They searched the area of tog Hill, which is a
picnic spot around fifteen miles away from Anne's home. They searched the area for
around four days before moving the search to Woodland in the area of Wick,
less than two miles from tog Hill. Many of her favorite walking areas were
checked, and at the end of July it was confirmed that an area close
to the Gloucestershire Force Area was going to be searched. Shortly after this announcement
of further searches, Brian Myering was in court at a hearing he pleaded not
guilty to the charges of murder. His trial eventually took place in nineteen ninety
nine, and the prosecution set a case out where Brian Myering intentionally set out
to murder his wife due to his obsessive affair with Teresa Kempster. They alleged
that he wanted to get Anne out of the way so he could pursue this
relationship, and this was a substantial motive to murder her. The defense stated
that they had no evidence that Brian had killed his wife or that she was
even deceased. More insight into Anna Brian's relationship was gained at the trial,
with Brian stating that Anne had been siphoning money out of their joint account before
she went missing and that they had been arguing about this. Brian stated that
Anna had taken around fifteen thousand pounds out of their account and that she had
made a withdrawal of around nine hundred and twenty pounds before she went missing.
The prosecution, however, led by Paul Chad QC, said this was untrue
and actually CCTV footage showed that this transaction was made by Brian Myering himself.
Paul Chad explained it became clear to the police that the only person to benefit
from her disappearance was her husband. This was a carefully schemed murder of his
wife. He also stated that myering had got to the end of his tether
when it appeared that Anne was not just leaving him, and stated that they
had gone for a drive on the evening of the twenty fifth of January and
they argued out of earshot of their youngest son. He said that the argument
had not been resolved and that Anne told him that she was leaving him.
During the trial, the jury also heard that Brian had been in possession of
Anne's bank card. Teresa Kempster took to the stand to give some insight into
their relationship. She said that her husband had found out about the affair and
had attacked Brian when he saw them in the car together, and had also
found out after seeing them meet at a service station. Reportedly, Brian had
denied having an affair when approached by police initially, then admitted to it later
on. The prosecution set out that they had checked on hospitals and solicitors and
all lines of inquiry exhausted when trying to locate her, suggesting that it was
obvious that she was no longer alive. They also explained that Anne had left
too many of her belongings behind, including a treasured family heirloom, and that
she had booked a holiday and a hair appointment, implying that she hadn't planned
to leave. On his part, Brian Myering denied all the allegations against him.
He explained that he had noticed that Anne was taking money out of the
account, and he had confronted her about it on the car journey, saying
he believed she'd taken it out. When asked by Antony Arledge, QC defending
did you kill your wife in the course of that journey or at any other
time, Brian replied no. When he was questioned about why he'd delayed in
telling authorities that she was missing, he said that he didn't want to worry
her mom about her disappearance, as she was having an operation and he was
convinced that she had just left him. Towards the end of the trial,
the prosecution made some admissions to the defense, saying that Brian Myering had co
operated fully with analysis of his bank accounts and forensic examination of his clothing and
vehicles. They also stated that four of Anne's bank cards had never been found,
and searches had found no trace of Anne. There was no forensic link
to Brian, and Anne had not been recovered, and so there was no
concrete evidence that she was dead. The case against Brian was circumstantial and it
was unclear how it was going to conclude. The jury took the case and
within just two and a half hours they were back with a verdict. They
found Brian Myering not guilty of the murder of his wife. Brian was visibly
relieved at the news and was pleased with the result. Outside court, Detective
Chief Inspector Jeff Anderson said the case was still open. He said, this
has been a difficult investigation and unusual circumstances, and as far as we're concerned,
and my Ring is dead, we would welcome any information which might lead
to the whereabouts of her body so that her family might finalize their grieving process.
The outcome of the trial was disappointing for the police, who had taken
this as far as they could with the circumstantial evidence that they had. It
must have also been very distressing and confusing for Anne's family. Anne's brother Mark
told the press in the days after the acquittal. Listening to the evidence has
been hell. At times it has been too much to bear. They not
guilty verdict means the story is not closed. He also stated that the family
had known for a while that Anne was dead, but that they now needed
to find her body to find closure. Anne's sons must have also been going
through the worst time of their lives, given that their mother was missing and
their father could have gone to prison for her murder. David and Stephen,
as well as their father, spoke to the Independent newspaper in two thousand,
three years after Anne's disappearance and a year after Brian was acquitted. Brian gave
the paper a statement which read, I was very surprised I was arrested as
there was no forensic evidence at all, no history of violence, and there
had been several sightings of Anne around the country, with three in an area
that Anne knew, although myself, David or Stephen had not been told of
any sighting. I suppose the worst thing is the two years I spent away
from my family on bail. David was only fifteen going into his final year
at school, and for some four months I was not allowed to see or
talk to him. This initial period was very traumatic for myself and for David.
David and Stephen stated that they do not believe that their father had anything
to do with their mother's death, and described Brian saying, we couldn't imagine
anyone like him ever doing something like that. He's never hit us, never
shown any violence towards anybody. Really, He's really nice. I just don't
think it's feasible. Stephen is equally adamant. I'm the best person at winding
anybody up, and Dad has never ever raised a hand. He's quite mellow.
Actually, he's got a good sense of humor as well. It never,
ever, not once entered my mind at all. David, Stephen,
and Brian explained that they believe that Anne is still alive and don't accept that
she has died. They hoped that they would see her again and that she
would get in contact. David stated, we're all encouraging each other to try
and do as much as we can to try and find her. I'm not
bothered about her reasons. I'm more concerned about her making contact. If she
came back, I wouldn't even ask where she'd been. I would just be
crying. I'd be so happy. I would rather take the positive approach.
There is lack of evidence both ways, but I'd rather be more positive.
I'm always going to believe that she's alive. There has never been any significant
evidence as far as I'm concerned, to say that she's dead. Brian also
said, I would like to say to Anne, come back. I know
it means facing up to a lot, but the boys miss you a lot.
Although we shall never be together, the first twenty years of marriage was
very good and I'd like to know that you're all right. Stephen explained that
he's gutted by his mother's disappearance and that he still wears her gold necklace,
and since she disappeared, he had had a daughter and he'd given her the
middle name of Anne. He said, with my job, I'm out on
the road on my own, driving about, and you've got to think about
something. Unfortunately, it always seems to be about my mum and where she
can be. I do still cry about it. There's no doubt that Anne's
disappear had an incomprehensible effect on her sons and her whole family. But when
Anne's mother Gwendolen was spoken to for the same article, she had a different
outlook on her daughter's disappearance. She believed that Anne had been murdered and that
she was not just going to walk back through the door. She stated David
was the apple of her eye. She would never have walked out on those
boys. Ever. She'll never come back. She's dead and that's all there
is to it. I had cancer five and a half years ago, and
there's no way my daughter would not have looked after me. We were like
that. She was my best friend, not just a daughter. She would
come and take me out once a week, sometimes twice. She idolized her
husband. I'm not very happy about them wanting their mother to come home when
it's absolutely impossible. I think it's very sad. She was my daughter,
she was my flesh and blood. Gwendolen by this point in two thousand,
had lost her voice box due to the spread of cancer and had to use
a voice and hancer. She was described as being visibly angry about the situation
and its stated in the article that the two sides of the family now no
longer speak. This is such a sad story, and the fact that Anne's
close family has been ripped apart by not only her disappearance, but also by
the trial and then acquittal of Brian. In the years following the trial,
David and Stephen continue trying to locate their mother, with a poster campaign in
areas where Anne had links to and a feature in Big Issue magazine to appeal
for her return. At the time, Detective Chief Inspector Jeff Anderson from Avon
and Somerset Police, who was leading the investigation, stated that they believe that
Anne was dead. Told the Independent newspaper does a woman leave home leaving nine
single shoes, all her makeup, her jewelry and all her money. Her
mother was ill with cancer and she was very supportive of that. She was
very supportive of her children. There was a huge amount of circumstantial evidence that
suggests this woman had not left that home on her own volition, carrying two
suitcases with all her belongings. Police have remained convinced that Anne is dead and
that they were looking for her remains. However, these have never been located.
It would appear that her bank accounts remained untouched. However, seven years
after she disappeared, a sighting of someone fitting her description in Leeds was reported.
David and Stephen ups the poster campaign in the area. However, this
did not locate Anne or figure out if this sighting was her. While doing
the podcast, all of the cases are tinged with sadness as they're all unsolved,
but sometimes some cases really affect me. This is one of them,
and I think it's because of the damage that has been done to Anne's family
as a result of her disappearance, Brian's trial and later acquittal. Her family
seems to have been broken beyond repair by it, and while there hasn't been
many updates and articles since two thousand, it's clear that the opinions and thoughts
of all the family members are very different. David and Stephen want to remain
hopeful that their mother did just walk away and was alive. However, police
and anne side of the family believe that she is no longer alive. The
questions that remain are numerous. What happened to Anne that night? Where did
she go, why did she not take any useful belongings with her, Why
has she not touched her bank accounts, and why did she leave her car?
All of this is unclear, and I completely understand and her son's desire
to remain hopeful the facts We do know, though, is that Brian Myering
has been acquitted of all charges, and that police still maintain that Anne is
dead and that they are on the recovery for her remains. Since her disappearance,
nothing has been found to pinpoint where she is or what happened to her.
Anne is still missing, and her disappearance and potential murder is still unsolved.
Without her body, there does appear to be a little chance of any
progress being made, or without any more sightings, her location will be tricky
to figure out. I really do hope that her family can finally get some
closure and that soon there will be some information or evidence forthcoming. They deserve
answers, and David and Stephen deserve to know what happened to their mom.
If you know anything about the disappearance of Anne my Ring in nineteen ninety seven,
then please contact Avon and Somerset Police at one oh one. After the
release of the episode, David got in touch with me about it. I
always appreciate when this happens, and I want to thank David for taking the
time to speak to me. In all of my episodes, I do say
that I'm only using known facts that have been reported in the media, and
so I know that there's always more to everyone's story, and so it's always
good to get firsthand information from those close to the person or to the case.
David wanted to add some more detail about the events leading up to his
mum's disappearance, and wanted to explain that Anne leaving the evening before was not
the only possible scenario and that it was just as if not more, likely
that she left the next morning. David explained that it has been difficult to
get the right kind of attention for his mother's case, and this is something
which is been echoed by other families that I have spoken to. David explained
that he last saw his mum on the evening of the twenty fifth of June,
and that this was before she went on a drive with his dad.
Much was made of this car journey that night, particularly at trial. However,
David told me that nobody actually saw either of them return, as he
had already gone to bed and his brother Steve had come home late that evening.
He explained that his brother was always the first to get up and leave
the house and that this was the same that morning. David said his dad
was the next to leave, and before he left, he told David not
to disturb his mother as she wasn't feeling well and was still in the bedroom.
His dad then took the car and went to work, saying that he
had taken the car as he didn't want and to take it if she were
to leave him. David said that he then just went to school as usual.
He explained to me that this is the moment that we're forever hard on
him, as if he had made the decision to check on his mum that
morning, a lot of things could be resolved by now. He explained that
because he didn't check on her that morning, it was completely feasible that his
mum was in the bedroom at that time, and that she then had all
morning to leave the home before David returned for his lunch later in the day.
This, of course, would affect the known timeline for Anne's disappearance.
David also wanted to address the fact that there hadn't been any sightings of Anne
in the area at the time. He explained that as Anne hadn't been reported
for twenty four hours, he wouldn't necessarily expect that anybody would have noticed or
remembered her. He referred to bus drivers, taxi drivers, and those at
Bristol Parkway train station, saying that after this time had elapsed, they may
not necessarily remember her. He also added more detail, saying that you can
exit Chavening Close where Anne and the family lived, on foot and be out
of view within thirty seconds, suggesting that Anne could easily have left the family
home and have been out of sight of people that would recognize her very quickly.
Therefore, it would make sense that there were no sightings of her in
the area that she lived. The last thing that David wanted to mention was
that there were some indications that there may have been something bothering Anne in the
lead up to her disappearance. He explained that her colleagues at Hewlett Packard had
reported that Anne had been snappy at work on the twenty fifth, and that
this had been out of character for her. This is of course important information,
given that this was unusual for her, and anything out of the ordinary
is always necessary to look into. It's clear that Anne's disappearance is certainly not
straightforward, and there are many things that are unknown, but also many situations
that could be plausible. David expressed his sadness about his mother's disappearance and how
it affected them as a family. He explained that they were still young at
the time and that he and his brother never felt fully supported. He said
that after she disappeared, many people that they knew turned their backs on them,
including many of his mother's friends. He stated that he knew this is
not what his mother would have wanted and that she would have been extremely upset
about what has happened. Since this is the sad reality of what is left
behind when something like this happens, and I really appreciate David sharing this with
me, as it isn't something that is often discussed when speaking about missing people.
Anne's family have been left without the answers they need, but also without
the support that they also needed over these years. The heartbreak of their mother
being missing and also losing the life they knew and many people close to them
must have been devastating, and I do really feel for David and his brother
Steve. This is the reason I created the podcast, and speaking to families
of missing people is so important to me. I say it all the time
in my episodes, but families deserve to know what happened to their loved ones,
and there are so many people impacted by these cases. I again want
to thank David for speaking to me and clarifying some of these points about his
mum's disappearance. I hope the family do eventually get answers to what happened to
Anne, but if you do know anything, then please contact police on one
oh one and let them know the information that you have. Thank you for
listening to today's episode. If you'd like to support the podcast further, then
you can on Patreon and contribute to the exclusive polls to get extra bonus episodes
every month. You can also get access to new episodes early and add free.
You can use the links in the show notes to visit Patreon and see
what we offer. You can also support us by reviewing the podcast wherever you
listen, including Spotify, and also just share the episodes. You can subscribe
on YouTube and follow us on social media. As always, I'm Caprice and
this has been unseen