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Hi, and welcome back to The
Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated to missing

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people, unresolved cases and UK true
crime. Today's our last episode of twelve

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days of missing person cases throughout December. I hope that you have enjoyed listening

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to these episodes. I've had amazing
feedback as always on them, and the

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engagement has been great. I'm so
proud of the fact that we're able to

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highlight these cases on the podcast and
hopefully do some good. Today we're going

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to be discussing the disappearance of twenty
three year old Stephen Preston in nineteen ninety

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two on the Wirral. He left
home and hasn't been seen since. This

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episode is about a missing person and
so does not contain any graphic descriptions.

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However, listener discretion is always advised. Bebington is a town on the world

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located around five miles south of the
city of Liverpool. It's known for its

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convenient location close to Liverpool and easy
transport links. Stephen Preston lived in Bebington

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his whole life, throughout the nineteen
seventies and eighties. He attended Brackenwood Infants

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and Junior School in the Town and
then went on to attend Newchester Road Secondary

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School. Stephen was close with his
family, particularly his mum Isabelle, his

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sister Jane, and half brother Michael. Jane later describe Stephen saying he was

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a gentle, kind and funny lad. He didn't have a nasty bone in

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him. He was my friend.
Stephen was well liked and loved his family

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life. With his friends and family, he went by the nickname Gandy.

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He lived with his family on Heath
Road and most of Stephen's life around Bebington.

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He was a well loved member of
their family and his friends. On

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the morning of the eighteenth of September
nineteen ninety two, Stephen was at home

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when his mum isabel left for work
at around eight forty five am. It

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reported that Stephen waved goodbye to his
mum from his bedroom window and she set

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off. There was nothing at all
out of the ordinary about this morning,

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and Isabelle thought nothing of it.
It was only when Stephen was not in

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the house later that night, and
when he didn't return, that his family

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began to get worried about his whereabouts. He was all the more worrying as

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it appeared that he had left without
taking his jacket with him or a prescription

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for medication that he was on,
meaning he had left the house with almost

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nothing with him. If he was
heading out for any length of time,

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then why did he not take anything
with him? Where had he gone?

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And why did he not let anyone
know? This was the concern for the

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family, and five days after he
had last been seen, he was officially

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reported missing on the twenty third of
September. Stephen's disappearance was strange, given

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that this was not something he usually
did, and when police began investigating,

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they learned that there had been no
arguments or issues on the morning that he'd

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last been seen. The investigation found
no reason why Stephen would have wanted to

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have gone missing. His family were
distressed by his disappearance, and they later

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said that he adored his family,
and particularly his mum, so he would

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not have wanted to put them through
so much stress and worry. His family

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speculated from early on that something might
have happened to Stephen given the circumstances in

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which he disappeared with no jacket and
no medication. This was not something he

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would usually do, and so the
idea that something had happened to him,

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or that foul play was involved was
something that certainly crossed their minds. Inquiries

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at the time did not indicate what
had happened to Stephen, and despite an

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investigation into his disappearance by Merseyside Police, he was never located and they couldn't

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find any evidence as to where he
went. In the years following, there

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was no verified sightings of Stephen and
there was no activity to suggest that he'd

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set up a new life somewhere else. For instance, there were no benefit

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withdrawals or accounts set up in his
name. There certainly was worrying. However,

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with little evidence and progress being made, Stephen's disappearance grew cold and it

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was passed on to the Missing Persons
Bureau. His case has been periodically reviewed

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by Merseyside Police and there have been
appeals made to the public for help.

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This was made all the more sad
due to the fact that his mum,

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Isabel, and his half brother Michael
died during the intervening years that he had

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been missing. They died with no
answer as to where Stephen was. In

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twenty seventeen, new life was breathed
into the case when it was reported that

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someone left a tip that Stephen's remains
may be found in an area called Easton,

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less than four miles from Bebbington.
The tip specifically said that his body

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could be found in a network of
fields close to junction five of the M

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fifty three motorway. This tip suggested
that Stephen had been murdered shortly after his

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disappearance and then buried there. The
police treated this tip its credible given how

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long Stephen had been missing. The
police cordoned off areas of different pieces of

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land, which were all empty in
twenty seventeen, but in nineteen ninety two

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there was a paddock and a stable
on one of them, cleared overgrown pieces

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of land and dug around ninety thousand
holes to try and enable a sniffer dog

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to get a scent. Despite digging
in these areas and significant manpower going into

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these searches, nothing was found and
the search was eventually sadly called off.

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Please continue to appeal, as did
Stephen's family, in the hope that someone

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else may come forward with information that
could help them. In twenty twenty one,

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another appeal was made to try and
locate Stephen and gain new information.

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His sister Jane said, he adored
my mum and it destroyed her when he

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disappeared. She knew instantly that he
wouldn't have just left and never contacted her

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again, and that something must have
happened to him. After all this time

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has passed. If anyone knows anything
or heard anything at the time, no

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matter how insignificant, if they could
just come forward, it could help us

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find some answers. Sective Inspector Steve
McGrath from Merseyside Police stated, we know

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that Stephen was last seen by his
mum, Isabelle, on the eighteenth of

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September nineteen ninety two. Sadly,
his mum and his half brother Michael have

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since passed away without knowing what happened
to Stephen, but we know there are

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still family and friends who want answers
to what happened. Extensive inquiries and appeals

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have been carried out over the years, and in twenty seventeen an extensive search

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was carried out on land near the
M fifty three following information received by Merseyside

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Police. I would appeal to anyone
who has any information about Stephen's disappearance to

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contact us. It doesn't matter that
twenty nine years have passed. Any information

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they have could be vital and provide
some comfort to his family. A young

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man in his twenties doesn't just leave
home and vanish into thin air. Somebody

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somewhere must know where he is or
what happened to him, and I would

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urge them to contact us as soon
as possible. Stephen Preston has still not

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been located and little has been found
to point to what happened to him.

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His family one answers and they deserve
them, so if you do know anything

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about his disappearance, please contact police
on one oh one. Thank you for

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listening to episode twelve of our Twelve
Days of Missing Person episodes throughout December.

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We'll be back in the middle of
January as I'm going to take some time

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off for Christmas and to be with
my family. I wish you all an

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amazing Christmas and New Year if you
celebrate it, and thank you so much

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for all of your support. It
means the world. If you'd like to

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support the podcast further, then you
can on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls

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to get extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to new

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episodes early in ad free you can
use the link in the show notes to

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visit Patreon and see what we offer. You can also support us by reviewing

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the podcast wherever you listen, including
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You can subscribe on YouTube and follow
us on social media. As always,

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I'm Caprice and this has been unseen
se