Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast
Speaker 1: dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime.
Speaker 1: Today's day four of our twelve days of missing person
Speaker 1: episodes throughout December. Today we're going to be exploring the
Speaker 1: disappearance of James Harmon in London in nineteen ninety eight.
Speaker 1: James's disappearance raised many red flags and means that this
Speaker 1: case has now been treated as a possible murder investigation.
Speaker 1: This episode is about a missing person and so does
Speaker 1: not contain any descriptions of violence, but listen to discretion
Speaker 1: is advised. On Saturday, January the twenty fourth, nineteen ninety eight,
Speaker 1: thirty year old James Harmon, or Jimmy as he liked
Speaker 1: to be called, was at his girlfriend's house in Romford,
Speaker 1: a town in East London. Jimmy lived on Maxie Road
Speaker 1: in Dagenham, which was around four miles from the town
Speaker 1: of Romford, where his girlfriend lived. Jimmy was originally from Belfast,
Speaker 1: however was now living and working in the London area.
Speaker 1: His day job was working as a mechanic and fitter,
Speaker 1: while at night he worked a second job as a
Speaker 1: doorman at the Dagenham's robin Hood Pub in Longbridge Road,
Speaker 1: as well as other East London bars and clubs. On
Speaker 1: that Saturday afternoon, at around three pm, it's known that
Speaker 1: Jimmy got a phone call on his mobile phone. This
Speaker 1: wasn't long after arriving at his girlfriend's house. After he
Speaker 1: got off the phone call, he told his girlfriend that
Speaker 1: he was going to meet a friend called Andy in
Speaker 1: the area of Raynham. Raynham is around six miles away
Speaker 1: from Romford. Jimmy said that he intended on returning by
Speaker 1: around eight pm that evening. This wasn't out of the
Speaker 1: ordinary for Jimmy, and he set off in his silver
Speaker 1: Mercedes one ninety e saloon car. Hours passed and the
Speaker 1: eight pm curfew that Jimmy had given himself came and went.
Speaker 1: He didn't return to his girlfriend's house, and it soon
Speaker 1: became apparent that nobody knew where he was. Those that
Speaker 1: were close to Jimmy were immediately quite worried about his
Speaker 1: sudden disappearance, and they knew that there was something out
Speaker 1: of character for him. Jimmy's girlfriend rang his mum, Jean,
Speaker 1: to let her know that he hadn't returned, and they
Speaker 1: both agreed to get police involved. At this point, a
Speaker 1: missing person investigation was launched. The investigation was based on
Speaker 1: the small piece of information that they had about his disappearance,
Speaker 1: the fact that Jimmy had been to visit a friend
Speaker 1: in Raynham. While investigating and searching the area, the police
Speaker 1: made a discovery which was certainly of interest. Jimmy's car
Speaker 1: with the registration A eight seven to two GBA, was
Speaker 1: found abandoned close to the King George Hospital in the
Speaker 1: area of good Mays. Good Maze is an area which
Speaker 1: is around three miles from Romford, where Jimmy's girlfriend lived,
Speaker 1: and around six point five miles from Raynham, where Jimmy
Speaker 1: had said he was meeting his friend Andy. Jimmy's car
Speaker 1: was identified quickly given that it was distinctive, it had
Speaker 1: a lowered suspension and a loud music system. Upon investigation
Speaker 1: of the car, police came to the conclusion that it
Speaker 1: had probably been there since January the twenty fourth, when
Speaker 1: Jimmy had gone missing. This appears to have come from
Speaker 1: witness statements from people who had seen the car park
Speaker 1: there since around that time. Why it was located there, however,
Speaker 1: was unclear, and so was why Jimmy may have been
Speaker 1: in that particular area after telling his girlfriend he was
Speaker 1: going to Raynham. Despite finding the car, there was no
Speaker 1: sign of Jimmy and police were even more concerned about
Speaker 1: his whereabouts, knowing that he now had no transport. The scene,
Speaker 1: while it didn't give any indication that anything was wrong,
Speaker 1: also did not seem right either, and police issued a
Speaker 1: description of Jimmy to the public to try and drum
Speaker 1: up some attention for his missing person case. Jimmy was
Speaker 1: described as white, five foot seven inches and stocky with
Speaker 1: sharp crops brown hair. He was last seen wearing a
Speaker 1: blue Budweiser T shirt, tracksuit, bottoms and trainers. An extensive
Speaker 1: investigation was carried out by police into his disappearance and
Speaker 1: many avenues were looked into. One of these lines of
Speaker 1: inquiry was the fact that they believed that Jimmy was
Speaker 1: part of what was described as a criminal fraternity in
Speaker 1: East London. Police stated that through investigation they knew that
Speaker 1: he took part in criminal activity and this may have
Speaker 1: been due to his job as a dorman at several
Speaker 1: different clubs and bars in East London and this may
Speaker 1: have been how he got involved. This line of inquiry
Speaker 1: also led police to believe that there was foul play
Speaker 1: involved in Jimmy's disappearance, and that as a result, Jimmy
Speaker 1: was murdered shortly after he vanished. Just ten months after
Speaker 1: he disappeared, the case was passed on to the Homicide
Speaker 1: and Serious Crime Command. Years began to pass, and in
Speaker 1: two thousand and one it was reported that police were
Speaker 1: again doing another search to try and find Jimmy. Detective
Speaker 1: Chief Inspector Michael O'Keeffe from the Serious Crime Group said,
Speaker 1: James Harmon has been missing for over three and a
Speaker 1: half years and in this time nobody has seen or
Speaker 1: heard from him. He was a man with a verve
Speaker 1: for life and was extremely fun of his children and family.
Speaker 1: It's vital that we hear from anyone who may have
Speaker 1: information on what may have happened to James, so that
Speaker 1: we can relieve his family of the anguish that they
Speaker 1: suffered during his absence. In two thousand and three, appeals
Speaker 1: were again made about Jimmy's disappearance, this time led by
Speaker 1: Jimmy's mum, Jean. She had been completely heartbroken by the
Speaker 1: disappearance of her eldest son, who she had been very
Speaker 1: close to after moving from Belfast to Manchester with her
Speaker 1: family in the nineteen seventies after the death of Jimmy's father,
Speaker 1: He had taken over the role as a father figure
Speaker 1: and was a responsible person. He had then moved to
Speaker 1: Essex to be closer to his girlfriend. Jane. Explained that
Speaker 1: she had found out from her that he had not
Speaker 1: returned when he said he was going to, and Jean
Speaker 1: had been immediately worried. In two thousand and three, along
Speaker 1: with the Missing Person's Helpline, they launched an appeal with
Speaker 1: the supermarket Iceland and to put Jimmy's face on every
Speaker 1: two liter carton of milk. She said it was so
Speaker 1: unlike James to just go missing and not get in
Speaker 1: contact with anyone. I've waited for five years just for
Speaker 1: a little snippet of information, and I'm hoping this will
Speaker 1: prick someone's conscience and they will tell me something about him.
Speaker 1: My son was a kickboxing champion and he was a
Speaker 1: strong man. If someone wanted to harm him, it would
Speaker 1: have taken more than one person to do it. James
Speaker 1: was a very jolly person and had no reason to
Speaker 1: leave out of the blue like that. It's totally out
Speaker 1: of character because he would know we would all be
Speaker 1: very worried about him. Gene also made a heartbreaking confession
Speaker 1: that she was trying to sell her gold wedding band
Speaker 1: to raise money for a reward. This is such a
Speaker 1: tragic part of this case and shows how love Jimmy
Speaker 1: was and how desperate his mum was for answers. Despite
Speaker 1: these appeals from police and Jimmy's family, the case seemed
Speaker 1: to go called for another few years before there was
Speaker 1: any meaningful progress being reported on. In July of two
Speaker 1: thousand eight, it was reported that a forty five year
Speaker 1: old who lived in Dagenham was arrested for perverting the
Speaker 1: course of justice and for being involved in Jimmy's disappearance.
Speaker 1: The suspect was taken into custody but was later bailed.
Speaker 1: It's unclear the grounds on which this suspect was arrested, However,
Speaker 1: this was clearly in some way connected to leeds that
Speaker 1: they had found in their investigation. After this development, police
Speaker 1: appealed once again for anyone with information to come forward.
Speaker 1: Five years later, in two thousand thirteen, another development was reported.
Speaker 1: Police announced that they were offering a twenty thousand pound
Speaker 1: reward for any information which led to the identification, arrest
Speaker 1: and prosecution of those responsible for Jimmy's murder. Detective Chief
Speaker 1: Inspector Neil Baldock said Jimmy was well known as a
Speaker 1: doorman at a number of East London clubs and pubs.
Speaker 1: I know he was involved in criminal activity in East
Speaker 1: London and I believe the key to this investigation is
Speaker 1: likely to come from within that criminal fraternity or their associates.
Speaker 1: In the intervening years, loyalties and allegiances may have changed,
Speaker 1: and I would appeal to anyone with new information to
Speaker 1: come forward and speak to us. It was hoped with
Speaker 1: the passage of time, someone may now feel more comfortable
Speaker 1: coming forward and telling the police what they knew, especially
Speaker 1: now with the new reward. If it was someone from
Speaker 1: a criminal group, they may now be leading a very
Speaker 1: different life than before and may be able to help.
Speaker 1: This must have been welcome news for Jimmy's family and friends,
Speaker 1: and especially his mum Jean, who had been appealing for
Speaker 1: information about her son for years at that point. In
Speaker 1: twenty fourteen, Jean spoke to the BBC about her son
Speaker 1: and explained that she had spent her widow's pension and
Speaker 1: had left herself penniless looking for Jimmy. She explained that
Speaker 1: she had got her hopes up several times when people
Speaker 1: rang up with tips or possible sightings, but that she
Speaker 1: had had her hopes cruelly dashed. She said some people
Speaker 1: rang up about four to six months ago to say
Speaker 1: they thought they'd seen him, but when the police checked
Speaker 1: into it, it wasn't him. You can't go forward. All
Speaker 1: you can do is keep looking back to see if
Speaker 1: there's anything that you've missed. Since then, however, there has
Speaker 1: been little reported about James Jimmy Harmon's disappearance, and it
Speaker 1: has been a decade since the last reporting that I
Speaker 1: could find. It's tragic that it's been twenty six years
Speaker 1: since Jimmy's disappearance and his family and friends have no
Speaker 1: answers as to what happened to him. Someone out there
Speaker 1: knows what happened to Jimmy, who was involved, and where
Speaker 1: he is, and that person or people need to come
Speaker 1: forward with what they know. Jimmy deserves justice and he
Speaker 1: needs to be found. If you know anything about his disappearance,
Speaker 1: please contact Crimestoppers on eight hundred five five five one
Speaker 1: one one, or visit Missing People using the link in
Speaker 1: the show notes to report information. Thank you for listening
Speaker 1: to today's episode. Listening in a few days to day five,
Speaker 1: where we will cover another missing or unidentified person case.
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Speaker 1: and this has been on scene the