Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today,
Speaker 1: we're going to be exploring the disappearance of Stephanie Whittaker
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety. Stephanie is a beloved wife and mother
Speaker 1: of three children, and her disappearance was completely out of character.
Speaker 1: It was made all the more strange as she disappeared
Speaker 1: on a journey that should have taken her less than
Speaker 1: ten minutes to make. Stephanie is still missing and her
Speaker 1: case is still unsolved thirty four years later. This episode
Speaker 1: is about a missing person and so does not contain
Speaker 1: any descriptions of violence, but listener discretion is advised. Newport
Speaker 1: is a city located in Wales, just twelve miles from
Speaker 1: the capital of Cardiff. It grew quickly during the nineteenth century,
Speaker 1: when its largest industry was coal mining from the South
Speaker 1: Wales Valley area. The Whittaker family lived in Newport on
Speaker 1: land Huey Road. The street is made up of many
Speaker 1: semi detached and terrace homes, perfect for families. The Whittaker
Speaker 1: family comprised of Tony, his thirty four year old wife, Stephanie,
Speaker 1: and their three children. Who in nineteen ninety were twelve
Speaker 1: nine and eighteen months old. Tony worked as a manager
Speaker 1: for a family care housing association, while Stephanie at that
Speaker 1: moment was a stay at home mum with her youngest child.
Speaker 1: Her job was something that Stephanie had given up after
Speaker 1: the birth of her third child. However, before this, Stephanie
Speaker 1: worked as a home advisor for Gwent Health Authority for
Speaker 1: families with chillnldren with learning difficulties. She had studied psychology
Speaker 1: at Bristol University and had studied further courses on counseling
Speaker 1: and communication at a local college in Newport. Stephanie was
Speaker 1: known to be loving, caring, and concerned about the welfare
Speaker 1: of those around her. It's clear that Stephanie was loved
Speaker 1: by her family and friends, and that she did a
Speaker 1: lot for people that she cared about, as well as
Speaker 1: strangers that she didn't know. A friend of Stephanie's from
Speaker 1: college later described her saying, she loved her kids so much.
Speaker 1: I used to joke about it and even called her
Speaker 1: earth Mother. She gave up her job for her youngish
Speaker 1: child because she didn't want to miss any part of
Speaker 1: his growing up. Neighbors of The Whittakers also discussed how
Speaker 1: much they saw Stephanie put into her children's lives, saying
Speaker 1: she dotes on her little boy and spends lots of
Speaker 1: time in the garden with him. These are just two
Speaker 1: of many descriptions of Stephanie from people that knew her,
Speaker 1: and it's so clear that she lived for her children
Speaker 1: and her family and that they were a tight knit
Speaker 1: family unit. On March of twenty second, the family spent
Speaker 1: the evening celebrating their son's twelfth birthday. They had been
Speaker 1: to a pizza restaurant, and it reported that Stephanie had
Speaker 1: discussed how excited she was about an upcoming holiday that
Speaker 1: the family were going on to West Wales. The next evening,
Speaker 1: on the twenty third of March, Stephanie had plans to
Speaker 1: meet some friends at a local spiritualist meeting at Saint
Speaker 1: John's Ambulance Hall at Caxton Place. This was a usual
Speaker 1: Friday even and the friends regularly met up there and
Speaker 1: then sometimes went for drinks at a local pub or
Speaker 1: went for coffee at one of the friend's homes. Stephanie
Speaker 1: would walk to Caxton Place as it was less than
Speaker 1: half a mile and would take just under ten minutes
Speaker 1: to get there that evening. Stephanie was meant to be
Speaker 1: meeting her friends at around eight thirty pm, but she
Speaker 1: was running a little bit late. Tony would later describe
Speaker 1: it as the usual rush of domestic life. She rang
Speaker 1: one of her friends before she set out to explain
Speaker 1: that she was running late, but that she would be
Speaker 1: on her way. The friend had already set out, and
Speaker 1: so Stephanie got through to her husband instead. She then
Speaker 1: headed out of the home at around eight twenty five pm,
Speaker 1: telling Tony that she was on her way out now
Speaker 1: and would see him later. Toni was looking after the
Speaker 1: children that night, and so he went to bed at
Speaker 1: about midnight. Stephanie had still not returned, but Tony later
Speaker 1: stated that he wasn't worried immediately, as he knew that
Speaker 1: sometimes they would go for drinks or go to other
Speaker 1: friends' homes afterwards, so he wasn't alarmed. He later told
Speaker 1: the press it was not unusual for her to go
Speaker 1: to a friend's house for coffee, so I wasn't unduly worried.
Speaker 1: This changed, however, when Tony woke up three hours later
Speaker 1: at three am and discovered that Stephanie had still not returned.
Speaker 1: He said that it was at this point that he
Speaker 1: did begin to worry about her. It wasn't like Stephanie
Speaker 1: to be out late, and it wasn't part of her
Speaker 1: usual routine after her Friday meetings. He explained that he
Speaker 1: was pacing up and down the house worried about Stephanie's
Speaker 1: welfare until around five am, when he decided to ring
Speaker 1: one of her friends who had been at the meeting
Speaker 1: with her that night. Concern immediately grew when this friend
Speaker 1: told Tony that Stephanie had not made it to the
Speaker 1: meeting point that night at all, and that she hadn't
Speaker 1: been out with her friends. This was a sickening realization
Speaker 1: as what had happened to Stephanie on that short walk
Speaker 1: from her home to the meeting point. It was at
Speaker 1: this moment that Tony contacted police to inform them that
Speaker 1: his wife was missed in The missing person report was
Speaker 1: immediately taken seriously by Gwent Police. It was clear that
Speaker 1: something was wrong with the picture that they were seeing.
Speaker 1: Stephanie was a responsible, reliable mother and wife who regularly
Speaker 1: made this journey to meet her friends on a Friday night.
Speaker 1: There was nothing that suggested anything out of the ordinary.
Speaker 1: On that evening. There was also nothing that caused the
Speaker 1: police to worry about her mental health, as she had
Speaker 1: never struggled with this in her life. As far as
Speaker 1: everyone was aware, everybody told police the same thing. Stephanie
Speaker 1: would not have left voluntarily and would never have left
Speaker 1: her children behind. She would never leave her family without
Speaker 1: contacting someone. She was in a good place in her life,
Speaker 1: with her mum explaining that she told her that she
Speaker 1: had never been so happy. It was evident to police
Speaker 1: that they had to rule out a number of theories,
Speaker 1: and this done quite early in this case. They did
Speaker 1: not believe that Stephanie had left of her own card
Speaker 1: to for instance, live another life. She had not taken
Speaker 1: any of her belongings with her, and Tony explained that
Speaker 1: she only had a couple of pounds with her and
Speaker 1: had not taken any cards, credit books, or checkbooks. This
Speaker 1: would mean that whatever she had on her was all
Speaker 1: she would have had. She hadn't even taken a handbag
Speaker 1: and certainly hadn't taken any spare clothes. Tony stated that
Speaker 1: he didn't believe that Stephanie had any worries or concerns
Speaker 1: that would have made her do this, and She was
Speaker 1: very open about her feelings in their marriage. He told
Speaker 1: a newspaper at the time. She was the sort of
Speaker 1: person who externalized her feelings, and if she was in distress,
Speaker 1: she would have told someone. Even if she got involved
Speaker 1: with another emotional relationship with someone, she would have told me.
Speaker 1: She was fiercely honest. But I don't believe that anyone
Speaker 1: one else was involved. She was always at home. She
Speaker 1: always put her children first, even before her own needs.
Speaker 1: This theory therefore, seemed unlikely. This left police with the
Speaker 1: theory that Stephanie had been abducted on her journey from
Speaker 1: home to Caxton Place. This is where issues with the
Speaker 1: investigation began. Police canvassed any witnesses to the sharp journey
Speaker 1: that she would have taken. They could find no witnesses
Speaker 1: to anything suspicious on that route at the time that
Speaker 1: Stephanie had set off that day. The route was a
Speaker 1: straightforward one. She headed down the hill towards the civic center,
Speaker 1: did a right turn, and then went into town. The
Speaker 1: route was reportedly well lit and usually quite busy. Therefore,
Speaker 1: it would seem likely that someone would have seen Stephanie
Speaker 1: that night. However, no one saw anything that stood out
Speaker 1: if Stephanie had been abducted, wouldn't someone have seen it?
Speaker 1: Police issued posters with Stephanie's picture on, as well as
Speaker 1: a description of her and what she had last been
Speaker 1: seen wearing at that time. Stephanie was five feet tall,
Speaker 1: of a medium build with a fair complexion. She had
Speaker 1: blue eyes and shoulder length hair. She was last seen
Speaker 1: wearing a pin striped shirt, a dark skirt, black boots,
Speaker 1: and a three quarter length maxed barber jacket. On the
Speaker 1: thirtieth of March, a week after her disappearance, police reconstructed
Speaker 1: her movements on the night that she went missing. It
Speaker 1: was hoped that this would jog people's memories of seeing her.
Speaker 1: Police were appealing very regularly for information about Stephanie. However,
Speaker 1: despite this, there had only been around thirty phone calls
Speaker 1: logged about her disappearance. Detectives were also quite honest about
Speaker 1: the leads that they had, saying it was as though
Speaker 1: Stephanie had just vanish off the face of the earth.
Speaker 1: Tony was also very dedicated to appealing for information and
Speaker 1: speaking to the press to keep her case in the
Speaker 1: public eye. He explained to the press at the time,
Speaker 1: I have to believe that she's still alive, Otherwise it
Speaker 1: all gets too frightening. In the weeks after Stephanie's disappearance,
Speaker 1: there was little evidence as to what happened to her.
Speaker 1: There was no evidence as to her whereabouts, but there
Speaker 1: was also no evidence that she had been abducted or
Speaker 1: been the victim of foul play. The longer that she
Speaker 1: remained missing, though, the more suspicious this disappearance became. Detective
Speaker 1: Inspector Alan Watkins, leading the inquiry, said, she has just vanished.
Speaker 1: She is a devoted mother who was not suffering from
Speaker 1: depression or anything. Were very concern for her safety. We
Speaker 1: don't know if she's being held somewhere against her will,
Speaker 1: but if she can possibly contact us, I will speak
Speaker 1: to her in confidence. It was hoped that by publishing
Speaker 1: information about her disappearance, someone would remember something or remember
Speaker 1: seeing her somewhere in the local area or further afield.
Speaker 1: It would turn out that some sightings did come in.
Speaker 1: There was a sighting of someone who resembled Stephanie in Hereford,
Speaker 1: as well as a sighting by someone living in Newport
Speaker 1: who said that they knew her. This woman stated that
Speaker 1: she had seen Stephanie on the evening of the twenty
Speaker 1: third of March in Newport, on the day that she
Speaker 1: went missing, but a little later than she would have
Speaker 1: been walking to the meeting point. This woman said that
Speaker 1: she looked distressed. This was an interesting tip. However, like
Speaker 1: many of the aspects of Stephanie's disappearance, it could not
Speaker 1: be confirmed. Another sighting that came in was from six
Speaker 1: months after her disappearance and was from a taxi driver.
Speaker 1: This driver said that he had seen a missing poster
Speaker 1: of Stephanie and that she resembled a woman that he
Speaker 1: picked up a month before. This woman had a Welsh accent,
Speaker 1: and the taxi driver had picked her up from the
Speaker 1: Manhattan nightclub in King's Lynn in Norfolk. He had taken
Speaker 1: her to hunt Stanton in Norfolk, around thirty miles away.
Speaker 1: This again was an interesting line of inquiry. However, again
Speaker 1: it could not be confirmed, and the question of how
Speaker 1: and why Stephanie would be more than two hundred miles
Speaker 1: away also could not be answered. As the Monson years passed,
Speaker 1: the police continued to appeal to the public for help,
Speaker 1: and Tony continued to speak to the press about his wife.
Speaker 1: He stated that he just wanted to know what had
Speaker 1: happened to her and where she was, and that he
Speaker 1: and his children needed answers to these questions. Her family,
Speaker 1: who loved her was so invested in trying to find out,
Speaker 1: and they had all been left behind with no plausible
Speaker 1: reason for why Stephanie was not in their lives anymore.
Speaker 1: This must have been heartbreaking for them, and not knowing
Speaker 1: must have been unbearable. In nineteen ninety four, Stephanie's case
Speaker 1: was featured on Crime Watch. It was a very short segment, however,
Speaker 1: the national attention was very much needed for the case.
Speaker 1: Detective Inspector Watkins said not long into the investigation, we
Speaker 1: just don't know what happened to her. There is no
Speaker 1: evidence to show that she has been abducted, and she
Speaker 1: has no reason to run away. This is the tragic
Speaker 1: nature of long term missing person cases, as unless new
Speaker 1: evidence comes to lie, often there isn't much newer information
Speaker 1: to report on. Stephanie's case is so important to continue
Speaker 1: talking about, though, as she is a beloved mother to
Speaker 1: three children who have not had her in their life lives,
Speaker 1: and she is missed by so many people who cared
Speaker 1: a lot about her. In August this year, The Sun
Speaker 1: published an article about her disappearance with many of the
Speaker 1: aspects of the case contained in it. You never know
Speaker 1: who has information, and it could take that one person
Speaker 1: hearing about the case to come forward with the key
Speaker 1: to solving it. Stephanie went missing on a walk that
Speaker 1: should have taken her less than ten minutes. She must
Speaker 1: have been seen by someone, or someone must have seen
Speaker 1: something that night that they thought was suspicious or odd.
Speaker 1: Stephanie went missing on the twenty third of March nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety in Newport, so if you think that you know
Speaker 1: anything about her disappearance, then please contact police on one
Speaker 1: oh one. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If
Speaker 1: you'd like to support the podcast further, then you can
Speaker 1: on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls to get extra
Speaker 1: bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to
Speaker 1: new episodes earlier in ad free. You can use the
Speaker 1: link in the show notes to visit Patreon and see
Speaker 1: what we offer. You can also support us by reviewing
Speaker 1: the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also just
Speaker 1: share the episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and follow
Speaker 1: us on social media. As always, I'm Caprice and this
Speaker 1: has been unseen.
Speaker 2: Hi i' grace, host of red Rum True Crime podcast.
Speaker 2: These cases focus on the true victims of crime. Why
Speaker 2: not Jump in At episode one hundred and fourteen, the
Speaker 2: tragic murder of Jasmine and Aaliyah. The main suspect in
Speaker 2: this case gave an extremely bizarre interview to a number
Speaker 2: of press reporters whilst he was drunk and reportedly high.
Speaker 2: He has this completely inappropriate laughing and chuckling response when
Speaker 2: talking about the cakes. But what he didn't know was
Speaker 2: that two undercover officers were on their way to catch
Speaker 2: him out, and he easily and willingly took the bait.
Speaker 2: You can find us wherever you get your podcasts. Just
Speaker 2: search red Rum True Crime. That's red Rum Murder Backwards
Speaker 2: r E D r U M True Crime