THE LETTER
A quote from The Times article dated
15th August 2001 Missing nurse's letter may have been dictated linked by Legally Bland in post #33 in this thread :
"Her parents, Phil and Kathleen, said that a letter from Germany, apparently written by Miss Kerton, was
not in her usual style and contained stilted sentences, as if dictated.
Miss Kerton's sister, Angela, said: "It is only since Louise has gone missing that my parents have gone back and analysed it. It was not immediately obvious that
it was not her writing. She has been dyslexic since she was about ten so is always adding to what she has written and yet this letter was very neat with double-line spacing. She was writing things like 'The trees are green, the German people are very nice'. She just would not write in that manner."
Her father added: "Our worry is that
it could have been dictated to her
or she could have been encouraged to copy it down."
Speaking from his hotel in the small village of Euskirchen, where his daughter was said to have visited, he said: "
She may not have left Britain. Police have not been able to confirm whether she arrived on the Continent or not. The German police are reluctant to throw their weight behind the search because they can't be sure she was actually there."
- - -
What I notice is that if her father thought she might not have left Britain, and the letter came from Germany, reading between the lines there is a third mooted scenario, in which someone else wrote the letter pretending to be Louise. I think a handwriting expert could determine this by comparing samples of Louise's handwriting and any others available. Even quirks of Louise's writing that are missing could establish that it wasn't written by her, which would be a starting point to opening a murder investigation. It was sent 10 days before the date she didn't board the boat. It seems like it could have been an attempt to show proof of life, about a week before Peter would return alone to England. Are her fingerprints even on the letter? Could they obtain her fingerprints from other letters she did send, or birthday cards, or college notes if they still have them? Or are someone else's fingerprints on it, apart from the recipients? Saliva or thumb print on a stamp? Is it notepaper she had ever used before?
- - -
other mentions of the letter -
The
Independent - article written approx
18th August 2001 (18 days referred to in article after her disappearance) :
"A letter sent by Miss Kerton, who suffered from dyslexia, from Germany on 20 July was felt by her family to be uncharacteristically brief and tidy for a young woman who wrote in long, rambling sentences.
It said: "
I'm keeping well. Having a lovely time in Germany. It's very green here, the weather is nice. Don't worry about me."
---
BBC - 29th May 2003 :
"Miss Kerton's family had received a letter from her around that time but doubted its authenticity.
"
She doesn't mention that she's coming home and they feel that perhaps the letter was written under duress," Ms Woodforde said.
"They don't feel it was the way she would normally communicate with them."
---
Daily Mail - article dated
2019:
"The Kertons received a final letter apparently from their daughter, dated July 20, 2001, telling them: '
It is very beautiful here with all the trees and the flowers.'
And mentioning her nursing course, she added: '
I am keeping an open mind about everything to do with the nursing and I am sure all will turn out well in the end.'"
---
The Guardian - article dated
31 July 2021 :
"He still has the handwritten letter Louise wrote to her parents dated 20 July 2001, 10 days before her scheduled return to the UK, which was their last message from her. In it, she writes: “
I’m keeping well. Having a lovely time in Germany. It’s very green here, the weather is nice. Don’t worry about me.”
He remains puzzled by what he referred to as its brevity and neatness."
---
KentOnline - article dated 2021 :
"But this letter was on
one side of relatively small paper, and very neatly written out."
MOO
