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 eleven of twelve days of missing person episodes
Speaker 1: throughout December. Today we're looking into the recent disappearance of
Speaker 1: Lester McLennan in Belfast in November twenty twenty four. This
Speaker 1: is a very recent case and I hope by highlighting
Speaker 1: it the information may just get to the right person.
Speaker 1: This episode is about a missing person case and so
Speaker 1: does not contain any descriptions of violence, but listener discretion
Speaker 1: is advised. Lalisa McLennan and her twenty year old son
Speaker 1: Leicester left their home in Upper Norwood in South London
Speaker 1: on the thirty first of October. They were traveling to
Speaker 1: Belfast to visit family, specifically a recently bereaved Anne who
Speaker 1: lived in the city. Leicester had had a tricky few
Speaker 1: years prior to twenty twenty four, and had been diagnosed
Speaker 1: with depression and anxiety by the Community Health Team in
Speaker 1: January of twenty twenty four. Prior to this, Lester had
Speaker 1: been extremely low and his mom later explained that he
Speaker 1: struggled enormously at school during lockdown and took it very hard.
Speaker 1: He hadn't been very successful with his A levels and
Speaker 1: had dropped out of school. This was a difficult time
Speaker 1: for him. However, since being diagnosed in January twenty twenty four,
Speaker 1: Lester had been doing much better and was feeling much
Speaker 1: more positive about his future. He had found himself a
Speaker 1: job and had enrolled in a university access course at
Speaker 1: Marley College, studying philosophy, history, English and creative writing. This,
Speaker 1: he hoped would enable him to get back on the
Speaker 1: track that he'd previously been on. His Mumma Leitha said,
Speaker 1: he's a young person who found lockdown quite difficult and
Speaker 1: had not managed to do his A levels, but he
Speaker 1: just started college in September and looking at his diary entries,
Speaker 1: it was so lovely. He'd written college with three exclamation marks,
Speaker 1: as he was really excited about it. He was telling
Speaker 1: me about what he was doing, he was enjoying the
Speaker 1: people he'd met, and he was making an application to
Speaker 1: university and he was talking about that. Lester said he
Speaker 1: could really see a future for himself and that was
Speaker 1: so lovely to hear, given that he'd had a difficult
Speaker 1: few years when lockdown was on, he was just coming
Speaker 1: out of that, which was so nice to see things
Speaker 1: were coming together for him again. Leicester was a nature
Speaker 1: lover and enjoyed hiking, and this was another thing that
Speaker 1: he'd been enjoying during twenty twenty four. He'd made a
Speaker 1: trip to the West Highland in Scotland in June and
Speaker 1: had stayed for a week. While he was there, he
Speaker 1: did lots of hiking and took in many of the sites.
Speaker 1: This was clearly something that Lester really enjoyed and found
Speaker 1: a lot of satisfaction in. So when Lester and his
Speaker 1: mom arrived in Belfast, Lester made it clear that he
Speaker 1: was excited to make the trip out to Giants Causeway.
Speaker 1: The Giant's Causeway is a World Heritage site which is
Speaker 1: made up of forty thousand hexagonal basalt columns which were
Speaker 1: created from volcanic fisher eruption. It's an extremely popular tourist
Speaker 1: attraction in Northern Ireland and many people visit each year
Speaker 1: to see the amazing natural site. This was clearly just
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that Lester enjoyed, and being just
Speaker 1: over an hour away from the city itself, he decided
Speaker 1: to make the trip. On November the first, Lester left
Speaker 1: Belfast on a bus to the Giants Causeway at nine
Speaker 1: thirty am on Friday, the first of November. Was wearing
Speaker 1: a dark zip up jacket, a long gray coat which
Speaker 1: came below the knee, walking boots, and he was carrying
Speaker 1: a black backpack. Inside he had his passport, some food,
Speaker 1: his hat and a jumper. He was prepared for the
Speaker 1: short trip and day hike that he was taking and
Speaker 1: wouldn't have stood out from other tourists on their way
Speaker 1: to the Giant's Causeway. He enjoyed hiking and walking and
Speaker 1: had already been on a hiking holiday that year, so
Speaker 1: he was mostly prepared for the journey that he was taking.
Speaker 1: As the day wore on and day turned into night,
Speaker 1: Lilisa became worried when Leicester had not returned to where
Speaker 1: they were staying in Belfast. She had expected him to
Speaker 1: be back and so when he didn't, there were questions
Speaker 1: as to why Loalisa didn't waste time in contacting authorities,
Speaker 1: and the Police Service of Northern Ireland were very quickly
Speaker 1: involved in the search for Leicester, only a day after
Speaker 1: he'd last been seen on the second of November. They
Speaker 1: were appealing for information and asking people who might have
Speaker 1: been seen in the area to come forward with what
Speaker 1: they saw. Given where Leicester had disappeared from on the
Speaker 1: coast of the North Atlantic Ocean, it was pivotal that
Speaker 1: police worked quickly and so an extensive Coastguard led search
Speaker 1: was set up, trialing for any in all evidence of Leicester.
Speaker 1: Community rescue teams and search and rescue dogs were also
Speaker 1: deployed to the area to track down a leads. Trying
Speaker 1: to figure out where Lester could have gone on the
Speaker 1: Giant's Causeway was also very important. CCTV showed him getting
Speaker 1: on the bus at nine thirty am, however, how far
Speaker 1: did he get once he arrived there. Police began speaking
Speaker 1: to people in the area and interviewing people that were
Speaker 1: there during that time. They were able to track down
Speaker 1: a tour guide who remembered speaking to Leicester around two
Speaker 1: pm or November first. This tour guide explained that they
Speaker 1: had seen him on the cliff path near Lackada Point.
Speaker 1: Lakada Point is a rock promontory that juts out into
Speaker 1: the ocean and is famous for being the point where
Speaker 1: the ship lag Your Owner from the Spanish Armada sank.
Speaker 1: The tour guide stated he then headed off in the
Speaker 1: direction of dun Severick Castle. This gave police somewhat of
Speaker 1: a timeline for the day, and they knew that he
Speaker 1: had at least been seen at around two pm. They
Speaker 1: were also able to establish that the last pings on
Speaker 1: Leicester's phone show that he was still in the area
Speaker 1: of the Giant's Causeway until around five five thirty pm.
Speaker 1: That's the time where things become less certain. Where had
Speaker 1: Lester gone after he had last been seen on the
Speaker 1: cliff path, how far had he got? Wellsa explained that
Speaker 1: Lester was quite a fast walker and so could have
Speaker 1: got further than police thought he might have. She said
Speaker 1: he was last seen at two pm on the cliff
Speaker 1: path near La Caada Point. He spoke to a tour
Speaker 1: guide who said Leicester was asking questions about other sites
Speaker 1: of interest up along the coast. When they finished talking,
Speaker 1: Lester walked off in the direction of Dunseverick Castle. Lester
Speaker 1: is a keen hiker. He could just march along. He's
Speaker 1: quite tall with long legs. He could go really fast,
Speaker 1: so he could have covered quite a long distance. He
Speaker 1: could also rough it. He'd walk to the West Highland
Speaker 1: Way before. He would be happy to sleep out rough,
Speaker 1: although he wasn't prepared to do that. If it got dark,
Speaker 1: he might have he would have found shelter and hunkered
Speaker 1: down for the night, but I'm pretty sure he would
Speaker 1: have made contact with us if that happened. There was
Speaker 1: an important find that could help to narrow down where
Speaker 1: Lester may have got to and November two, two tourists
Speaker 1: walked into the visitors center at the Causeway and handed
Speaker 1: in a black backpack. When it was opened, Lester's belongings
Speaker 1: were found inside, including his passport. This was his backpack.
Speaker 1: The tourists had been captured on CCTV, but at the
Speaker 1: point that they handed this in not everyone was aware
Speaker 1: of its significance or of Lester's disappearance, so questions were
Speaker 1: not asked of these two men. Primarily, the question of
Speaker 1: where the bag was found was not asked. This would
Speaker 1: have given police an approximate search area and would have
Speaker 1: narrowed down how far Lester had reached at the point
Speaker 1: he put his bag down. A picture of the two
Speaker 1: men on CCTV were shared in the hope that they
Speaker 1: would come forward with information about where exactly it was found.
Speaker 1: It's believed that these two men were not from the
Speaker 1: UK and were visitors from another country. Workers at the
Speaker 1: visitors center believed that they had an accent, but couldn't
Speaker 1: pinpoint where this accent came from. It's still crucial that
Speaker 1: these two people come forward or anyone that thinks that
Speaker 1: they read recognize them let the authorities know. Police continued
Speaker 1: to search for information, and two weeks after Leicester disappeared,
Speaker 1: Lalitha told the press, I'm coming over to Belfast this
Speaker 1: week to go back up the coast and try to
Speaker 1: distribute as many leaflets as I can. I'm also going
Speaker 1: to go into pubs and shops to ask people if
Speaker 1: they've seen anything. Search teams had drones up yesterday between
Speaker 1: Lakada and bally Castle, including white Park Bay, so they've
Speaker 1: done a very thorough search with these drones there. There
Speaker 1: are bits they can't get to along the coast, the
Speaker 1: likes of caves, nooks and crannies, but they've done as
Speaker 1: much as they can along there. They've also searched up
Speaker 1: to five hundred meters back from the cliff edge Inland.
Speaker 1: They're reviewing all drone footage this evening to see if
Speaker 1: there's any evidence the two people who handed Leicester's backpacking
Speaker 1: did have a foreign accent, but the staff who it
Speaker 1: was handed into didn't have any idea where the accent
Speaker 1: might be from. Police have been going to hotels and
Speaker 1: hostels locally to see if those backpackers turned up there.
Speaker 1: We have family in Australia who have been reaching out
Speaker 1: to people on social media who were in the area
Speaker 1: that day, but we haven't had any luck yet. The
Speaker 1: area that police are searching, though, is a huge area
Speaker 1: and without being able to narrow down where the bag
Speaker 1: was found, it's tricky to track down Lester's exact route.
Speaker 1: Lalitha explained that the area where the phone last pinged
Speaker 1: covers around twelve miles and so even this, while useful,
Speaker 1: does not narrow it down a lot. Seah McGerry of
Speaker 1: the Community Rescue Service in Corrain, stated that they had
Speaker 1: already looked in the Dunseverick Castle area, but would be
Speaker 1: going back to have another look. He said he was
Speaker 1: obviously going in a certain direction which helps us that
Speaker 1: takes him much further east. We have had to make
Speaker 1: these assumptions, so we've already searched this area, but we
Speaker 1: will returned to that direction and get another search there
Speaker 1: as well. This is such a recent case and someone
Speaker 1: will remember where they were at the beginning of November.
Speaker 1: It's crucial that these tourists are tracked down. If the
Speaker 1: location of the bag can be found, then Leicester's last
Speaker 1: known location could also be found. Lolitha has been dedicated
Speaker 1: to searching for Leicester and will not be giving up
Speaker 1: doing that. However, she stated that it has been very difficult.
Speaker 1: She explained, it would be good to find him, but
Speaker 1: I don't expect to find him alive. It would be
Speaker 1: good to know what happened to him. I don't hold
Speaker 1: a lot of hope. Initially I'd been pushing to find
Speaker 1: out where his backpack was found. It feels very likely
Speaker 1: that he's not alive. Loalitha praised the Police Service for
Speaker 1: Northern Ireland for their quick response for looking for Leicester,
Speaker 1: saying that they have been following up every lead and
Speaker 1: whenever possible witnesses have been identified, they have been speaking
Speaker 1: to them as soon as possible. This is always heartening
Speaker 1: to here. I think Leicester's disappearance of all the cases
Speaker 1: I've covered this month is the most pressing in one way,
Speaker 1: as information will still be coming in and people hearing
Speaker 1: about it. May well have a good memory of seeing
Speaker 1: Leicester or being on the Giant's Causeway at the time
Speaker 1: that he disappeared. Were you there on the first or
Speaker 1: second of November? Do you know anyone that was Do
Speaker 1: you recognize the tourists in the CCTV images. Do you
Speaker 1: know someone who lives in the area that could share
Speaker 1: this information. There are so many ways that you can
Speaker 1: help in this case and support Lester's mother to get
Speaker 1: some answers. Lester is approximately six feet three in height,
Speaker 1: of slim build, with light brown hair, and was wearing
Speaker 1: black glasses, light beige trousers with a dark belt, walking boots,
Speaker 1: a long gray coat to below the knee, and a
Speaker 1: dark zip up jacket. He was also carrying a black backpack.
Speaker 1: Anyone that does know anything is encouraged to contact police
Speaker 1: in col Rain on one oh one, quoting reference number
Speaker 1: seven six zero two forward slash one one, forward slash
Speaker 1: two four. I will link this in the show notes.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to today's episode. Listen in to
Speaker 1: day twelve, where we'll cover another missing or unidentified person case.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to support the podcast further, then you
Speaker 1: can on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls to get
Speaker 1: extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access
Speaker 1: to new episodes early in ad free. You can use
Speaker 1: the link in the show notes to visit Patreon and
Speaker 1: see what we offer. You can also support us by
Speaker 1: reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also
Speaker 1: just share the episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and
Speaker 1: follow us on social media. As always, I'm Caprice and
Speaker 1: this has been unseen b