WEBVTT

1
00:00:10.599 --> 00:00:14.160
<v Speaker 1>Hi, and welcome back to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast

2
00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:18.559
<v Speaker 1>dedicated to missing people, unresolved cases and UK true crime.

3
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.480
<v Speaker 1>Today we're going to be covering a missing person case

4
00:00:22.519 --> 00:00:24.960
<v Speaker 1>which was brought to my attention by our lovely and

5
00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:28.640
<v Speaker 1>very supportive listener Louise, who had spotted a post by

6
00:00:28.679 --> 00:00:32.920
<v Speaker 1>West Midlands Police. The post captured my attention and I

7
00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:35.399
<v Speaker 1>felt it was a definite good fit for the podcast.

8
00:00:37.079 --> 00:00:40.119
<v Speaker 1>The disappearance of forty four year old Douglas Mortimer in

9
00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:43.479
<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty one has been a mystery since it occurred,

10
00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:47.759
<v Speaker 1>and his family have recently appealed last month for anyone

11
00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:52.079
<v Speaker 1>who knows anything to come forward with information. I would

12
00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:54.119
<v Speaker 1>love to support them in getting the word out about

13
00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:58.640
<v Speaker 1>Douglas's disappearance. This is going to be one of our

14
00:00:58.679 --> 00:01:02.359
<v Speaker 1>shorter episodes. Is often the case with missing person cases

15
00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:05.560
<v Speaker 1>where there is limited information, but I believe it's an

16
00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:10.040
<v Speaker 1>important one. This episode is about a missing person and

17
00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:13.439
<v Speaker 1>so there are no graphic descriptions, but listener discretion is

18
00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:21.280
<v Speaker 1>always advised. During December nineteen eighty one, the family of

19
00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:25.200
<v Speaker 1>Douglas Mortimer became concerned when they hadn't seen or heard

20
00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:29.280
<v Speaker 1>from him. This was Unlike Douglas, who has been described

21
00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:33.920
<v Speaker 1>as a home loving and stable father of three. By

22
00:01:33.959 --> 00:01:36.879
<v Speaker 1>all accounts, Douglas was not one to just disappear without

23
00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.560
<v Speaker 1>speaking to his family or letting them know what he

24
00:01:39.719 --> 00:01:45.280
<v Speaker 1>was doing, and this was unusual. Douglas lived in Woodgate

25
00:01:45.319 --> 00:01:48.680
<v Speaker 1>in Quinton, a suburb of the city of Birmingham, and

26
00:01:48.760 --> 00:01:52.280
<v Speaker 1>he worked with a seven Trent Water Authority as well

27
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.799
<v Speaker 1>as Ladywood's Social Club. In nineteen eighty one, he was

28
00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:01.799
<v Speaker 1>living with his daughter at her home. The concern grew

29
00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:04.480
<v Speaker 1>as Douglas failed to return to the home and he

30
00:02:04.519 --> 00:02:07.400
<v Speaker 1>didn't turn up to meet his friends at Ladywood Social

31
00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:12.639
<v Speaker 1>Club on the third of December. There was no sign

32
00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.960
<v Speaker 1>of where he might have gone to Those that knew

33
00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:18.599
<v Speaker 1>him speculated that he had around fifty pounds on him

34
00:02:18.599 --> 00:02:20.800
<v Speaker 1>when he left, and it didn't seem that he had

35
00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:23.319
<v Speaker 1>taken anything with him that he would need to be

36
00:02:23.400 --> 00:02:29.599
<v Speaker 1>away for any substantial period of time. Douglas's family contacted

37
00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:32.719
<v Speaker 1>the West Midlands Police to try and track Douglas down,

38
00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:36.439
<v Speaker 1>as this disappearance was so out of character for him.

39
00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:42.719
<v Speaker 1>West Midland's police began investigating the disappearance and piecing together

40
00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:47.719
<v Speaker 1>what had happened and when he might have disappeared. They

41
00:02:47.719 --> 00:02:50.800
<v Speaker 1>were able to establish that Douglas had last been seen

42
00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.080
<v Speaker 1>on December the third. It was a Thursday, and they

43
00:02:55.159 --> 00:02:57.199
<v Speaker 1>knew that he had decided to go and visit his

44
00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:02.080
<v Speaker 1>wife in his way was separated at that time, and

45
00:03:02.159 --> 00:03:04.919
<v Speaker 1>he'd reportedly gone to visit her at the teaching center

46
00:03:04.960 --> 00:03:10.000
<v Speaker 1>in Ladywood, where she worked as a caretaker. This visit

47
00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:12.400
<v Speaker 1>had been to sort out some of their affairs as

48
00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:16.680
<v Speaker 1>a result of the couple's separation. It was known that

49
00:03:16.719 --> 00:03:19.599
<v Speaker 1>this visit with his wife had not gone especially well,

50
00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.599
<v Speaker 1>and that they'd had an argument. A CID spokesman said

51
00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:27.400
<v Speaker 1>at the time, they had an argument and he left

52
00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:29.960
<v Speaker 1>in his car, and that was the last time anyone

53
00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:34.240
<v Speaker 1>has seen or heard from him. The fact that his

54
00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:37.479
<v Speaker 1>disappearance had been after an argument added an even more

55
00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.439
<v Speaker 1>worrying aspect to the case. Where did Douglas go after

56
00:03:41.479 --> 00:03:47.599
<v Speaker 1>this and where was his car? Police began trying to

57
00:03:47.639 --> 00:03:51.599
<v Speaker 1>track down Douglas's blue Ford Cortina with the registration number

58
00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.719
<v Speaker 1>JXD three three nine K, in the hope that if

59
00:03:55.759 --> 00:04:00.879
<v Speaker 1>they found his car, they would find him within two weeks.

60
00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:04.039
<v Speaker 1>They also distributed a description of Douglas so that people

61
00:04:04.039 --> 00:04:06.599
<v Speaker 1>would be able to spot him if they saw him around.

62
00:04:08.599 --> 00:04:12.520
<v Speaker 1>Douglas was described as five feet eight inches tall. He

63
00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:16.519
<v Speaker 1>had short, dark graying hair, blue eyes, and a stocky build.

64
00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.959
<v Speaker 1>He was clean shaven at the time and was wearing

65
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:23.560
<v Speaker 1>a water board jacket which had the word waterworks on

66
00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:28.360
<v Speaker 1>the back. It was hoped that this distinctive description would

67
00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:30.839
<v Speaker 1>mean someone would be able to help the police track

68
00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:37.920
<v Speaker 1>him down. They were also concerned about Douglas's disappearance due

69
00:04:37.959 --> 00:04:40.959
<v Speaker 1>to the circumstances in which he had gone missing, and

70
00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:43.360
<v Speaker 1>they were worried about his state of mind at the time.

71
00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:47.839
<v Speaker 1>He hadn't even contacted his job to let them know

72
00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:50.279
<v Speaker 1>that he wouldn't be in work, and this was very

73
00:04:50.360 --> 00:04:54.560
<v Speaker 1>out of character for him. There were many reasons to

74
00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.560
<v Speaker 1>be worried about Douglas. Another was that when the police

75
00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.279
<v Speaker 1>contacted his bank to try his movements, they discovered that

76
00:05:02.319 --> 00:05:05.279
<v Speaker 1>he hadn't drawn out any money, meaning that he still

77
00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:10.319
<v Speaker 1>only had the money that he left with. Police continued

78
00:05:10.360 --> 00:05:12.959
<v Speaker 1>to try and figure out what happened and where Douglas

79
00:05:12.959 --> 00:05:17.639
<v Speaker 1>had gone. Months passed, however, without much progress being made,

80
00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:30.480
<v Speaker 1>and Douglas nor his car were recovered. Nine months after

81
00:05:30.519 --> 00:05:36.360
<v Speaker 1>Douglas disappeared, an article ran discussing the investigation. Police explained

82
00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:38.959
<v Speaker 1>that they were worried about his safety as he seemed

83
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:43.600
<v Speaker 1>to have just disappeared into thin air. A senior detective

84
00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:47.279
<v Speaker 1>on the investigation was quoted as saying, where he is

85
00:05:47.319 --> 00:05:49.639
<v Speaker 1>now is a mystery we would dearly love to solve.

86
00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:53.199
<v Speaker 1>It's just as though he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

87
00:05:55.319 --> 00:05:58.199
<v Speaker 1>The detective also gave some more context to the moment

88
00:05:58.279 --> 00:06:02.040
<v Speaker 1>that Douglas disappeared, saying that his wife described speaking to

89
00:06:02.120 --> 00:06:05.000
<v Speaker 1>him for around ten minutes and he then left in

90
00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:10.439
<v Speaker 1>a temper. The senior detective said, we are puzzled about

91
00:06:10.439 --> 00:06:13.639
<v Speaker 1>this case. Some of his family fear he could have

92
00:06:13.720 --> 00:06:17.519
<v Speaker 1>been done harm. They are also worried that he might

93
00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:21.839
<v Speaker 1>take his own life because he was depressed. If he

94
00:06:22.000 --> 00:06:23.839
<v Speaker 1>is alive, he would like to hear from him as

95
00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:29.639
<v Speaker 1>soon as possible, particularly to reassure his relatives. The fear

96
00:06:29.680 --> 00:06:31.920
<v Speaker 1>that Douglas may have come to harm was something that

97
00:06:31.959 --> 00:06:35.199
<v Speaker 1>worried everyone surrounding the case, given that he had just

98
00:06:35.240 --> 00:06:37.519
<v Speaker 1>split up from his wife, and this may have been

99
00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:43.959
<v Speaker 1>a contributing factor. Moore was revealed in October nineteen eighty two,

100
00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:46.920
<v Speaker 1>when it was announced that police had got three anonymous

101
00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:50.360
<v Speaker 1>calls stating that Douglas had actually been seen with an

102
00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:54.839
<v Speaker 1>unknown woman. It was not said when Douglas had been

103
00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.920
<v Speaker 1>spotted with this woman, if it was before he disappeared

104
00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:03.680
<v Speaker 1>or after. In the same article from October, it stated

105
00:07:03.720 --> 00:07:07.120
<v Speaker 1>that Douglas's daughter said, I know at the time that

106
00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:12.680
<v Speaker 1>he disappeared. He said he was frightened. Once again, there's

107
00:07:12.720 --> 00:07:15.360
<v Speaker 1>nothing more said about what this meant, and what he

108
00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:19.839
<v Speaker 1>was frightened of was not clear. It certainly could and

109
00:07:19.879 --> 00:07:22.279
<v Speaker 1>should have been a line of inquiry that was followed

110
00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:29.040
<v Speaker 1>up by the West Midlands Police. Over the years since

111
00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:32.079
<v Speaker 1>Douglas Mortimer went missing, there have been appeals to try

112
00:07:32.120 --> 00:07:35.399
<v Speaker 1>and locate him. However, to the present day he's still

113
00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:39.360
<v Speaker 1>not been found and neither has his car. It's as

114
00:07:39.399 --> 00:07:43.720
<v Speaker 1>though he just vanished without a trace. It's now one

115
00:07:43.759 --> 00:07:46.839
<v Speaker 1>of the longest running missing person cases for West Midland's

116
00:07:46.839 --> 00:07:49.319
<v Speaker 1>Police and it's a case that they want to try

117
00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:55.680
<v Speaker 1>and solved. Just last month they issued an appeal on

118
00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.560
<v Speaker 1>their website and social media to try and drum up

119
00:07:58.600 --> 00:08:03.439
<v Speaker 1>some more information about his day disappearance. West Midland's Police

120
00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:05.839
<v Speaker 1>have said that no trace of Douglas has been found

121
00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:09.399
<v Speaker 1>after his disappearance, and that despite the passage of time,

122
00:08:09.839 --> 00:08:12.519
<v Speaker 1>they hope that a new appeal may jog someone's memory.

123
00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.279
<v Speaker 1>It's always hoped that despite the age of the case,

124
00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.759
<v Speaker 1>someone can help and that the missing person's family can

125
00:08:19.839 --> 00:08:23.680
<v Speaker 1>find out what has happened to them. Douglas would now

126
00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.720
<v Speaker 1>be eighty seven years old and his family are desperate

127
00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:30.040
<v Speaker 1>for help to try and find him. I know that

128
00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:32.480
<v Speaker 1>the appeal did reach a lot of people, and I

129
00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.440
<v Speaker 1>hope that one of those people had the information that

130
00:08:35.519 --> 00:08:40.600
<v Speaker 1>his family were looking for. If you know anything about

131
00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.200
<v Speaker 1>the disappearance of Douglas Mortimer, please contact the Missing Person's

132
00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.480
<v Speaker 1>Investigation Unit on zero one two one six two six

133
00:08:49.000 --> 00:08:55.879
<v Speaker 1>seven zero zero three. Thank you for listening to today's episode.

134
00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:58.240
<v Speaker 1>If you'd like to support the podcast further than you

135
00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:01.399
<v Speaker 1>can on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls to get

136
00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:05.279
<v Speaker 1>extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access

137
00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:08.399
<v Speaker 1>to new episodes early in ad free. You can use

138
00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:10.639
<v Speaker 1>the link in the show notes to visit Patreon and

139
00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:14.120
<v Speaker 1>see what we offer. You can also support us by

140
00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:18.080
<v Speaker 1>reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also

141
00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:21.879
<v Speaker 1>just share the episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and

142
00:09:21.919 --> 00:09:26.559
<v Speaker 1>follow us on social media. As always, I'm Caprice and

143
00:09:26.639 --> 00:10:00.120
<v Speaker 1>this has been unseen p