Speaker 1: Hi, and welcome to The Unseen Podcast, a podcast dedicated
Speaker 1: to missing people, unresolved cases, and UK true crime. Today
Speaker 1: is day one of our twelve days of missing person
Speaker 1: cases throughout December. I have produced these episodes for the
Speaker 1: last three years and I continue to believe that discussing
Speaker 1: these cases is so important. Today we're going to be
Speaker 1: looking into the disappearance of Sean Thompson in nineteen ninety three.
Speaker 1: Over three decades has passed since his disappearance. However, Shan's
Speaker 1: case is still unsolved. This episode is about a missing
Speaker 1: person and so does not contain any graphic descriptions. However,
Speaker 1: the listener discretion is advised. Notingly is a town located
Speaker 1: within the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. It's a
Speaker 1: relatively small town with around fourteen thousand people and is
Speaker 1: around fourteen miles away from Wakefield and twenty miles away
Speaker 1: from Leeds. In nineteen ninety three, twenty five year old
Speaker 1: Sean Thompson lived in the town along with his family.
Speaker 1: On the eighteenth of March nineteen ninety three, Sean left
Speaker 1: his home in Nottingay to go to the job center.
Speaker 1: His family've explained in recent reporting on the case that
Speaker 1: Sean had a medical condition called metasarus vrus, which meant
Speaker 1: that he walked on his tiptoes. There seemed to be
Speaker 1: nothing strange about Sean making this trip to the job
Speaker 1: center that day, given that it was a routine thing
Speaker 1: and not out of the ordinary. What was out of
Speaker 1: the ordinary, however, was that he never returned. His family
Speaker 1: became concerned when Shan had not come home, given that
Speaker 1: his trip to the job center should not have been
Speaker 1: a long one. This was out of character for Sean
Speaker 1: and it does not appear that it's something that he
Speaker 1: did regularly. When he still hadn't returned, his family reported
Speaker 1: him missing to West Yorkshire Police. When police began looking
Speaker 1: into the case, they couldn't find any evidence as to
Speaker 1: where Sean might have gone. The terrifying thing is that
Speaker 1: it seemed Sean had disappeared into thin air after leaving
Speaker 1: his home. A description of Sean was distributed to the
Speaker 1: public in the hope that someone had spotted him on
Speaker 1: the eighteenth of March when he left home. Shan's described
Speaker 1: as white, around five feet ten inches tall and slim.
Speaker 1: He has a pale complexion, sharp brown hair and brown eyes.
Speaker 1: The fact that Sean also had a medical condition. Metasaurus
Speaker 1: virus was also included in the description, given that this
Speaker 1: would have been a notice of feature and one that
Speaker 1: would have been recognizable for anyone that saw him that
Speaker 1: day or any days after that. Despite the investigation into
Speaker 1: Shan's disappearance, at the time, there was little evidence as
Speaker 1: to where he'd gone after he left his home to
Speaker 1: go to the job center, and there seemed to be
Speaker 1: no sightings of him. Weeks, months, and then years began
Speaker 1: to pass with little information coming into the police about him.
Speaker 1: It seemed as though he had vanished into thin air
Speaker 1: that day, and while adults are allowed to leave without
Speaker 1: informing anyone, his family knew that this was not like him,
Speaker 1: and they continued to try and find him throughout the
Speaker 1: next twenty years. His family continued to hope that they
Speaker 1: would finally get some answers as to what happened to Shan,
Speaker 1: and the police have stress that they're still looking for him.
Speaker 1: In two thirteen, on the twentieth anniversary of Sean's disappearance,
Speaker 1: West Yorkshire Police, along with Sean's family, appealed for information
Speaker 1: about him. DCI Neil Lineham of West Yorkshire Police's Homicide
Speaker 1: and Major Inquiry teams stated. Jean and Ruth have been
Speaker 1: waiting twenty years to find out what happened to their
Speaker 1: son and brother, and I would like to facilitate their reunion.
Speaker 1: It's very unusual for someone to not be seen or
Speaker 1: heard of for this amount of time. Someone will know
Speaker 1: where Sean is. We have digitally enhanced a photo of
Speaker 1: Sean through the age progression process to show what he
Speaker 1: could look like now twenty years on. Take a look
Speaker 1: at the image and let us know if you recognize
Speaker 1: him or may have seen someone who looks like this Sean.
Speaker 1: If you're watching, listening, or reading this, please get in
Speaker 1: touch so we know you're safe and well. Sean had
Speaker 1: a distinctive gait and suffered from the medical condition metatasus vrus,
Speaker 1: meaning he walked on his tiptoes. It is possible that
Speaker 1: he's received treatment for this condition since his disappearance and
Speaker 1: no longer walks in this way. I would like to
Speaker 1: speak to anyone who may know someone who does walk
Speaker 1: in this fashion or who has previously walked in this
Speaker 1: way and that fits Sean's description, to contact the police.
Speaker 1: I would like to stress Sean has not committed any
Speaker 1: criminal acts. Police have not since elaborated on any theories
Speaker 1: about what they think may have happened to Sean, and
Speaker 1: unlike in other cases of missing people, they have not
Speaker 1: stated that they believe there's any foul play involved in
Speaker 1: his disappearance. Since this appeal in twenty thirteen, there doesn't
Speaker 1: seem to have been any updates about the investigation, and
Speaker 1: as of writing in November twenty twenty five, Sean has
Speaker 1: now been missing thirty two years. Confirm that since Sean disappeared,
Speaker 1: there have been no sightings of him and seemingly nothing
Speaker 1: to suggest his whereabouts or any interactions with members of
Speaker 1: the public. Sean's family spoke to the press in twenty
Speaker 1: thirteen about his disappearance. Sean's sister Ruth explained, they always
Speaker 1: say time's a healer, but for us it hasn't been,
Speaker 1: as we have no idea where Sean is. It's like
Speaker 1: he's literally fallen off the face of the earth. We
Speaker 1: live every day hoping he will walk back into our
Speaker 1: lives and we will know he's safe. It's been very
Speaker 1: hard not knowing what's happened to Sean. Dad died not knowing,
Speaker 1: and I know Mum doesn't want to be in the
Speaker 1: same situation. If anyone knows where our Sean is, please
Speaker 1: get in contact with the police to put our minds
Speaker 1: at rest. We just want to know that he's safe.
Speaker 1: Sean's family have been appealing since he went missing and
Speaker 1: love nothing more than to find out where Sean is
Speaker 1: and what happened to him. In nineteen ninety three, on
Speaker 1: the twenty year anniversary of his disappearance, there was an
Speaker 1: age progression photo produced of Sean to show what he
Speaker 1: would look like. In twenty thirteen, this was shown to
Speaker 1: the public in the hope that someone would recall seeing him.
Speaker 1: I will post this photo on social media for those
Speaker 1: that want to take a look at it. The West
Speaker 1: Yorkshire Police have stated that if you know anything about
Speaker 1: the disappearance of Sean Thompson in Nottingley in nineteen ninety three,
Speaker 1: then please contact Missing People or the police on one
Speaker 1: oh one. I will link Sean's Missing People profile in
Speaker 1: the show notes. Thank you for listening to day one
Speaker 1: of our twelve Days of Missing Person Cases in December.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for Day two in a couple of days.
Speaker 1: As always, thank you so much for your support. If
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Speaker 1: share the episodes. As always, I'm Caprice and this has
Speaker 1: been unseen