UK UK - Helen Sage, 22, Manchester, Aug 1997

[Al Ka]

Missing Helen Sage

(only photo available)

There is very limited information about Helen Sage case out there and she was mentioned very briefly in total of only 3 articles over the long 20 years since her disappearance. Even in those 3 mentiones there are conflicting information about her with regards to her age and year of the disappearance.

One article state that she was 22 and another state that she was 36 when last seen. Two articles states that she disappeared in August of 1997 and one state that it was August 1998. It seems though that August of 97 might be correct.

She was mother of 6 month old daughter at that time and was from Rusholme or Longsight area of Manchester. She worked as prostitute in Minshull Street and the city's Minshull Street red light area was also the last place she was seen alive.

Her case is not listed in any public database, also not on Missing People org site (yet) but as per March 2019 it was confirmed she is still missing.

I am putting her case out here so anyone can come forward and confirm or add extra information to her case about her age, place, life, photos etc. Anything extra that can be added.

The Missing: 39 men and women from Greater Manchester who have disappeared

 

[Al Ka]

(Quote from article published March 26, 2019)

Helen Sage was a prostitute and a single mother who disappeared in Manchester in August 1997. She was devoted to her child and has never been seen or heard from since.

Helen was at one time suspected of being the unidentified Angel Meadow murder victim, but was eliminated from this inquiry, which remains unsolved.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) has not formally linked her disappearance with murdered prostitute Julie Jones, although it was recognised at the time that there were similarities. Julie Jones was a prostitute and mother of two, whose naked body was found under bushes at Shudehill Manchester, six days after she was reported missing on the 3rd of July 1998. She had suffered crush injuries to her chest.

North Yorks Enquirer | The Murder of Helen Sage – Re-Assessed

 

[Al Ka]

Link to unidentified Angel Meadow murder victim case
(Helen Sage was ruled out to be her)

- UK - UK - Manchester, 'Angel of the Meadow' WhtFem Skeletal, 16-30, buried, Jan'10

 

[Al Ka]

32 year old Julie Jones who was prostitute in the same area as Helen, disappeared one year later and was found murdered few days after her disappearance in 1998.

From article:

Julie Jones' body was found naked wrapped in a carpet under bushes in Old Smithfield Market, Shudehill, Manchester, on 3 July 1998. She died of severe crush injuries.
---
Her clothes and jewellery have never been found.

Link to article - Plea to catch daughter's killer

Investigators of Julie Jones cases worked with investigators of Helen Sage case due to some similarities.

I am also mentioning Julie's case here as there are quite a few similarities with unidentified Angel Meadow case (she was found outside, also hidden in city centre, also wrapped in carpet, half naked, also no jewellery present, also with severe injuries)

 

[dotr]

22 Jan 2013
Mothers who never came home
"DEVOTED mother Helen Sage vanished in August 1997 leaving behind a six-month-old daughter she adored.

The 22-year-old from Rusholme, Manchester, worked as a prostitute and was last seen in the city's Minshull Street red light area.

Her disappearance came just a week after the murdered body of fellow prostitute Julie Jones was found.

Julie's killer has never been found and the officers searching for Helen worked closely with that murder inquiry.

Helen is still classed as a missing person."

 

[Al Ka]

22 Jan 2013
Mothers who never came home
"DEVOTED mother Helen Sage vanished in August 1997 leaving behind a six-month-old daughter she adored.

The 22-year-old from Rusholme, Manchester, worked as a prostitute and was last seen in the city's Minshull Street red light area.

Her disappearance came just a week after the murdered body of fellow prostitute Julie Jones was found.

Julie's killer has never been found and the officers searching for Helen worked closely with that murder inquiry.

Helen is still classed as a missing person."

Thank you Dotr. That is one of the 3 articles I have found on Helen. They incorectly state here though that Helen disappeared few days after Julie when infact Helen disappeared one year prior to her, in Aug 97.

Hence I also wonder what age is correct - 22 mentioned here or 36 mentioned elsewhere.

 

[dotr]

North Yorks Enquirer | Christopher Halliwell: The Secret Murders 2
Helen Sage (Case 17)
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal goes from Liverpool, passes close to Rainford, then to Wigan and then on to the Pennington Wharf Marina at Leigh, where it becomes the Bridgewater Canal. The Bridgwater Canal then joins the Rochdale and Ashton canals which are in the City Centre of Manchester. This canal network is contained within the “Liverpool/Rainsford/Leigh/Manchester Quadrilateral”, and contains along it the abduction points, disappearance point and deposition sites from the above cases. These crime scenes are clustered around four points on this canal system the authors believe he may have been familiar with.

Map of the Liverpool/Rainsford/Leigh/Manchester Quadrilateral superimposed on the canal network
Key

L1 Liverpool Red Light District abduction points

Linda Donaldson

Julie Finlay

L2 Rainford By-Pass

Julie Finlay deposition site

L3 Pennington Marina area deposition sites

Linda Donaldson

Maria Christine Requena

L4 Manchester Red Light District

Angel Meadows – Deposition site

Helen Sage – Abduction point

Julie Jones – Abduction point

Julie Jones – Deposition site

Maria Christina Requena – Abduction point



"Helen is still classified as missing, although the authors both believe she has been murdered. We put this to GMP and received this response:

“Detective Sergeant Clare Carr, from GMP’s Cold Case Unit, said: “At the time of Helen’s disappearance a number of hypotheses were explored to establish what happened to her.

As with cases of this nature, this is normal procedure to make sure that every outcome is considered to try and find that person.

Helen’s disappearance is not currently being treated as murder as there has never been any physical evidence to suggest she was killed.

Of course, if any new information came to light we would review this.”

Why the authors believe the disappearance of Helen Sage should be re-classified as a murder.

• There was no reason for Helen Sage to disappear.
• She has been missing for twenty-one years and no trace has ever been found of her and despite being a prostitute, she has never come to the attention of the police since her disappearance.
• According to the MEN Helen Sage was a devoted mother with a six-month-old child that she adored. It is highly unusual for mothers to abandon their children and normally an indicator of crime.
• Prostitutes have to get into a car with an unknown man. This left her vulnerable to abduction and then murder at a remote crime scene. It is therefore not possible to detect physical evidence of crime at the pick-up point, because no crime is comitted there. The crime occurs afterwards and consequently the crime scene in these cases is far away from the place the victim was last seen, secluded and undetectable by the police. The absence of any physical evidence does not rule out the possibility of murder.
• The absence of physical evidence does not prevent a disappearance being treated as murder. Sally Anne John (Case 14) disappeared on the 8th of September 1995, but Wiltshire Police reclassified her disappearance as a murder, as did North Yorkshire Police in the Claudia Lawrence enquiry. There is no physical evidence of crime in either case.
• Helen Sage was a prostitute, which left her more likely to suffer violence than a woman following a different occupation. There must be a much greater presumption of crime in cases where prostitutes suddenly and inexplicably disappear when they are working. North Yorkshire Police (NYP) recently launched a campaign to protect them (very good NYP policy statement here) which explicitly recognises this. Under these circumstances the authors believe there should be a presumption of crime in prostitute disappearances.
• The Helen Sage case is the same as the disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards, which was only resolved eight years later when Christopher Halliwell led Wiltshire Police to her grave. There was no physical evidence of crime in that case either. The absence of a body or any physical evidence should not be used as the sole elimination criteria to automatically prevent the re-classification of Helen Sage’s disappearance as murder.

Why the authors believe Halliwell should be considered as a suspect in the murder of Helen Sage

• The case is consistent with Halliwell’s modus operandi (See Table 2). The absence of a body or any physical evidence is also consistent with Halliwell’s modus operandi.
• Helen Sage was a prostitute, enticed into a car. The same as the disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards, which was only resolved eight years later when Halliwell led Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher to her grave, following a very skilful interview by Fulcher.
• Halliwell lived in the Liverpool area and travelled widely. Manchester is about an hour’s drive both from Liverpool and Huddersfield (where his father lived).
• Halliwell may have holidayed on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which connects to the Bridgewater Canal and then to the Rochdale Canal, which goes into Manchester City Centre and the abduction point for Helen Sage.
• Halliwell used prostitutes. He may have been familiar with Helen Sage’s abduction point from picking up prostitutes there while visiting, or on a narrowboat holiday.
• Halliwell attacked prostitute Becky Godden-Edwards and attacked Sian O’Callaghan mistakenly believing her to be a prostitute. He may have targeted prostitutes because they were often not missed or not reported as missing (as in the case of Becky Godden Edwards). If so, then this was a master stroke on Halliwell’s part. It meant that the police may not even be aware that anything is wrong and would not open up a murder enquiry because of a lack of physical evidence. Even if the police are notified, that someone was missing, there would always be doubt that the person had just decided to go missing (thousands of people do this every year). The authors believe this aspect of Halliwell’s modus operandi was a major factor in his ability to go on offending for so many years, without detection.

 

[Legally Bland]

North Yorks Enquirer | Christopher Halliwell: The Secret Murders 2
Helen Sage (Case 17)
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal goes from Liverpool, passes close to Rainford, then to Wigan and then on to the Pennington Wharf Marina at Leigh, where it becomes the Bridgewater Canal. The Bridgwater Canal then joins the Rochdale and Ashton canals which are in the City Centre of Manchester. This canal network is contained within the “Liverpool/Rainsford/Leigh/Manchester Quadrilateral”, and contains along it the abduction points, disappearance point and deposition sites from the above cases. These crime scenes are clustered around four points on this canal system the authors believe he may have been familiar with.

Map of the Liverpool/Rainsford/Leigh/Manchester Quadrilateral superimposed on the canal network
Key

L1 Liverpool Red Light District abduction points

Linda Donaldson

Julie Finlay

L2 Rainford By-Pass

Julie Finlay deposition site

L3 Pennington Marina area deposition sites

Linda Donaldson

Maria Christine Requena

L4 Manchester Red Light District

Angel Meadows – Deposition site

Helen Sage – Abduction point

Julie Jones – Abduction point

Julie Jones – Deposition site

Maria Christina Requena – Abduction point



"Helen is still classified as missing, although the authors both believe she has been murdered. We put this to GMP and received this response:

“Detective Sergeant Clare Carr, from GMP’s Cold Case Unit, said: “At the time of Helen’s disappearance a number of hypotheses were explored to establish what happened to her.

As with cases of this nature, this is normal procedure to make sure that every outcome is considered to try and find that person.

Helen’s disappearance is not currently being treated as murder as there has never been any physical evidence to suggest she was killed.

Of course, if any new information came to light we would review this.”

Why the authors believe the disappearance of Helen Sage should be re-classified as a murder.

• There was no reason for Helen Sage to disappear.
• She has been missing for twenty-one years and no trace has ever been found of her and despite being a prostitute, she has never come to the attention of the police since her disappearance.
• According to the MEN Helen Sage was a devoted mother with a six-month-old child that she adored. It is highly unusual for mothers to abandon their children and normally an indicator of crime.
• Prostitutes have to get into a car with an unknown man. This left her vulnerable to abduction and then murder at a remote crime scene. It is therefore not possible to detect physical evidence of crime at the pick-up point, because no crime is comitted there. The crime occurs afterwards and consequently the crime scene in these cases is far away from the place the victim was last seen, secluded and undetectable by the police. The absence of any physical evidence does not rule out the possibility of murder.
• The absence of physical evidence does not prevent a disappearance being treated as murder. Sally Anne John (Case 14) disappeared on the 8th of September 1995, but Wiltshire Police reclassified her disappearance as a murder, as did North Yorkshire Police in the Claudia Lawrence enquiry. There is no physical evidence of crime in either case.
• Helen Sage was a prostitute, which left her more likely to suffer violence than a woman following a different occupation. There must be a much greater presumption of crime in cases where prostitutes suddenly and inexplicably disappear when they are working. North Yorkshire Police (NYP) recently launched a campaign to protect them (very good NYP policy statement here) which explicitly recognises this. Under these circumstances the authors believe there should be a presumption of crime in prostitute disappearances.
• The Helen Sage case is the same as the disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards, which was only resolved eight years later when Christopher Halliwell led Wiltshire Police to her grave. There was no physical evidence of crime in that case either. The absence of a body or any physical evidence should not be used as the sole elimination criteria to automatically prevent the re-classification of Helen Sage’s disappearance as murder.

Why the authors believe Halliwell should be considered as a suspect in the murder of Helen Sage

• The case is consistent with Halliwell’s modus operandi (See Table 2). The absence of a body or any physical evidence is also consistent with Halliwell’s modus operandi.
• Helen Sage was a prostitute, enticed into a car. The same as the disappearance of Becky Godden-Edwards, which was only resolved eight years later when Halliwell led Detective Superintendent Stephen Fulcher to her grave, following a very skilful interview by Fulcher.
• Halliwell lived in the Liverpool area and travelled widely. Manchester is about an hour’s drive both from Liverpool and Huddersfield (where his father lived).
• Halliwell may have holidayed on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which connects to the Bridgewater Canal and then to the Rochdale Canal, which goes into Manchester City Centre and the abduction point for Helen Sage.
• Halliwell used prostitutes. He may have been familiar with Helen Sage’s abduction point from picking up prostitutes there while visiting, or on a narrowboat holiday.
• Halliwell attacked prostitute Becky Godden-Edwards and attacked Sian O’Callaghan mistakenly believing her to be a prostitute. He may have targeted prostitutes because they were often not missed or not reported as missing (as in the case of Becky Godden Edwards). If so, then this was a master stroke on Halliwell’s part. It meant that the police may not even be aware that anything is wrong and would not open up a murder enquiry because of a lack of physical evidence. Even if the police are notified, that someone was missing, there would always be doubt that the person had just decided to go missing (thousands of people do this every year). The authors believe this aspect of Halliwell’s modus operandi was a major factor in his ability to go on offending for so many years, without detection.

Maybe I missed it, but I can't see why the authors of this article think Halliwell 'may' have holidayed on the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

It's a bit of a niche holiday, I live in Leeds and I can honestly say it's never crossed my mind.

And when you have locations 3 miles from the canal it's pretty safe to say you also need a automobile of some sort.

Prostitution and crime takes place in town and city centres, most of which are linked by canals in the UK. And the canals run through the middle of them.

It's food for thought, but I'm really not convinced the canal links these murders.

Just for clarity, I'm questioning the logic of the NYE article, not dotr's post.

 

[Al Ka]

Maybe I missed it, but I can't see why the authors of this article think Halliwell 'may' have holidayed on the Leeds Liverpool Canal.

It's a bit of a niche holiday, I live in Leeds and I can honestly say it's never crossed my mind.

And when you have locations 3 miles from the canal it's pretty safe to say you also need a automobile of some sort.

Prostitution and crime takes place in town and city centres, most of which are linked by canals in the UK. And the canals run through the middle of them.

It's food for thought, but I'm really not convinced the canal links these murders.

Just for clarity, I'm questioning the logic of the NYE article, not dotr's post.

I think writer of that article is quite eloquent however has 2 obvious agendas.

One - To pursue Helen Sage case to be reclassified as murder rather then missing person while strongly blaming Manchester police for their shortcomings. While it is reasonable and good idea to reclassify her case, I personally do not think author chose correct way to go about it.

Two - Pinning many murders on serial killer Halliwell. While this is quite common notion to do by many people when new serial killer is discovered, often logic or even circumstances do not add up.

Positive thing from all of this is that Helen's case is highligted and at least mentioned by someone. I wish though author would help to discover more about her and her life prior to the disappearance.

 

[SaintGertrude]

Does anyone know if the 'Costa killers' accomplice from Manchester ever came back to Manchester or was he still living in Costa in 1997
'Sorry' says 'Costa killer'

The Missing: 39 men and women from Greater Manchester who have disappeared[/QUOTE]

 

[Pinkizzy]

Another suspect

The killing and mutilation of two vulnerable women that left a community reeling

The discovery of two women's body parts dumped in bin bags in an alleyway sent shockwaves through the city - and left other women living in fear

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Bumping up for Helen.