UK UK - Emma Alice Smith, 16, Sussex England, 1926

kitbits · Feb 3, 2009

Not sure if this is the right place to post this story, so please move if necessary:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7867412.stm

Mischa · Feb 3, 2009

There is another article about Emma Alice - even containing a photo.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-girl-murdered-83-YEARS-ago-tip-relative.html

Kat · Feb 3, 2009

This is a fascinating story.

shadow of my mind · Feb 3, 2009

Very interesting. It is nice to see such an old cold case being looked at again.

Mischa · Feb 4, 2009

Reading about the UK-girl, whose disappearance is investigated after 83 years

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79152

this question came to my mind. Did you ever hear/read about a missing person case that was resolved after more than 20 or 30 years?

I know there is the story of the princes in the tower, whose alleged remains were found about 200 years after they vanished. But this case is very murky and obscure. (The remains were found exactly at the place their alleged killer said they were. So why not unearth them much earlier?). So without a DNA-testing I dont believe that the skeletons really belonged to the boys.

So did you ever hear about a case were a body was found and identified after lets say half a century?

kitbits · Feb 4, 2009

thanks Mischa!

Yes, very fascinating, indeed...and it is good to see it re-opened & it just goes to show you that there is always hope!

shannon2008 · Feb 4, 2009

This is indeed a very interesting case....sadly the more things change the more things stay the same, as the old saying goes.

But it's great that the case has been re-opened. I wonder if they searched the nearby pond for any bones. Would bones even still be there at this point?

You have to give it to those who continue to bring the case to the attention of others, just because it happened so long ago doesn't make it any less important. She's still a lost soul waiting to be found.

kitbits · Feb 4, 2009

shannon2008 said:
This is indeed a very interesting case....sadly the more things change the more things stay the same, as the old saying goes.

But it's great that the case has been re-opened. I wonder if they searched the nearby pond for any bones. Would bones even still be there at this point?

You have to give it to those who continue to bring the case to the attention of others, just because it happened so long ago doesn't make it any less important. She's still a lost soul waiting to be found.

Hi, Shannon--yeah, it is great! According to the Mail article, a lot of ponds around the area would have dried up long ago, but they do have ways of detecting if human remains are under water, so I reckon that's what they'll be doing with any ponds that still exist.

It is amazing...and all thanks to a series of coincidences & amateur dramatics

gaia227 · Feb 4, 2009

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1019919_murder_solved__after_54_years

Here is one that was 54 yrs old.

CastlesBurning · Feb 5, 2009

Thank you for sharing! The former journalist in me loves hearing these kinds of stories...

I hope Emma's spirit finds peace one day.

KarlK · Feb 7, 2009

Mischa said:
Reading about the UK-girl, whose disappearance is investigated after 83 years

I wonder if any human remains would subsist after almost a century in a pond? Don't bones become waterlogged and wither away into silt? Her bicycle may still be recognizable though, steel fares pretty well in freshwater.

So did you ever hear about a case were a body was found and identified after lets say half a century?

Well there's the obvious case of George Mallory but what had happened to him was not considered a mystery even though it took 75 years before his body was found and positively identified.

I do not personally know of such cases but like most other people I know of a few unidentified old skeletons that have been found locally over the years. Foul play is not always suspected though.

monkalup · Mar 8, 2009

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7870771.stm

Why investigate a crime from 1926?

WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...

Emma Smith (middle row, far left) who disappeared in 1926
Police have reopened the case of a teenage girl who disappeared over 80 years ago. But assuming everybody involved is dead, what is the point?
Emma Alice Smith was last seen cycling from her home in Waldron, east Sussex, to the local train station in 1926. Despite a police investigation at the time, her body was never found.

The case has been reopened after her great-nephew came to police saying that a dying man had confessed to murdering Emma and dumping her body in a local pond.

But with eight decades having passed, no-one concerned is still alive. So why are police investigating it now?

The police do not have any statutory obligation to follow up any cases that go back this far. But there are three key reasons why they may decide to do so. THE ANSWER
Request from family
Symbolic that murder investigations are never closed
It's, administratively, a successful case

The police are allowed to respond to the plea from the girl's descendants.

<modsnip>

http://z10.invisionfree.com/usedtobedoe/index.php?showtopic=41941&st=0&

Kat · Jul 9, 2011

http://www.bearsdenherald.co.uk/news/historic_murder_case_closed_1_1722745

Historic 'murder' case closed

Published on Friday 8 July 2011 05:35

Now police have said that Emma was not murdered but eloped with an older man, roadworker Thomas Wells, possibly to southern Ireland, after he left his wife and four children

badhorsie · Jul 9, 2011

Just about to post this, what a fascinating story.
Kudos to East Sussex Police

I would love to know more, how are they certain she eloped? Did they trace any of her descendents? But I am just terribly nosey

Kat · Jul 9, 2011

Me too badhorsie! I would love to know the details. How her life turned out with him and if they themselves had any children! (i'm nosey too!)

momtolil · Jul 11, 2011

This article is so vague. I really do believe this but, do they know for certain she eloped with this man? If so I would love to know how they were able to come to this conclusion. Just interested in the investigation.
If they know this they must have more details about her life. Perhaps her descendents want to keep things private.

Robin Hood · Aug 11, 2011

Some more reporting
http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/9132943.Did____murder_victim____really_elope_to_Ireland_/

Kat · Nov 24, 2011

From Robin Hood's link:

They discovered Emma Alice had gone missing in 1928, not 1926 as previously thought – at about the same time Irish road worker Thomas Wells left his wife and four young children.

Present-day detectives concluded he and Emma Alice had eloped after learning of a public row at a Sunday School outing between Emma Alice’s mother and Mr Wells’s wife some time between 1933 and 1936.

LE didn't find conclusive evidence that either of the couple arrived in Ireland. LE didn't pursue her whereabouts any further is what I take from the article.

Robin Hood · Nov 25, 2011

Maybe it's the sceptic in me but I'm not convinced, unless there's paperwork showing them in Ireland I wont believe it. I assume she took her bicycle with her on the ferry (rolls eyes).

Kat · Nov 25, 2011

I have an issue with it too Robin Hood. I want to see the paperwork as well.

UK UK - Emma Alice Smith, 16, Sussex England, 1926

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