UK UK - Deborah Steel, 37, Ely, England, 28 Dec 1997

[TheArtfulDetective]

Deborah Steel



Case Classification: Endangered Missing
Missing Since: December 28, 1997
Location Last Seen: Ely, Cambridgeshire, England

Physical Description:
Date of Birth: Circa 1960
Age: 37 years old
Race: White
Gender: Female
Height: 5'6"
Weight: Unknown - Medium build
Hair Color: Ash-blonde
Eye Color: Brown
Nickname/Alias: Debbie
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown
Identifiers: Unknown
Clothing & Personal Items: Brown trousers, brown boots, possibly yellow top, and a dark-colored anorak rain coat.

Circumstances of Disappearance:
Steel was last seen leaving the Royal Standard Pub in Cambridgeshire, Ely, England on December 28, 1997. She has never been seen or heard from since. Steel was the pub landlady and was intending to work her shift that evening and then stay overnight at the pub. However, she left at approximately 1:00 am, reportedly after an argument. The next morning, her partner discovered that her bed had not been slept in. Steel was nowhere to be found.

It is uncustomary of her to walk the mile and a half from the pub to her home in Longfields, Ely - especially late at night. However, the jewelry she always wore, along with her keys and mobile phone were found at her residence. Some of Steel's clothing and a sports bag were reported missing from her home.

Police launched a massive investigation, conducted extensive searches, and issued nationwide appeals, but Steel was never located. Her sister and investigators believe she met with foul play in Longfields, Ely sometime after she left the pub. Three suspects were arrested during the investigation but were never charged. Steel's whereabouts remain unknown.

Investigators:
Cambridgeshire Police
Call: 0845 456 456 4

Crimestoppers
Call: 0800 555 111
www.crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information

1955DFUK - Debbie Steel
Deborah Steel: Landlady disappearance a '20-year burden'
Still searching for answers 20 years after Deborah Steel vanished

 

[TheArtfulDetective]

Very comprehensive and thorough articles - including photos - on Debbie's case:

Still searching for answers 20 years after Deborah Steel vanished

What happened to pub landlady Deborah Steel? - True Crime Diva

 

[AcbMurders]

Deborah Steel: Sister of missing landlady vows to find truth

Deborah Steel disappeared following a pub shift in Ely, Cambridgeshire, in 1997.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Earth]

I wonder if Suffolk Strangler Steven Wright was involved.

 

[alb1on]

I wonder if Suffolk Strangler Steven Wright was involved.

It would be well away from his usual haunts (Ipswich, Norwich, East London) and not on the route to any of them or any other obvious place from them. The police seem to have suspected the partner as I can think of no other good reason for digging up the garden of her home. The one case which sets of a small bell with me as having some similarities is the disappearance of Davina McMillan from Godmanchester in November 1993. Godmanchester is only 20 miles from Ely, a similar small town and she also disappeared from her home with no obvious sign of what happened and no subsequent sightings or records. They are probably unconnected but the lack of information (the police are not even treating the McMillan case as other than a missing person) makes me wonder.

 

[trendsetter]

Very comprehensive and thorough articles - including photos - on Debbie's case:

Still searching for answers 20 years after Deborah Steel vanished

What happened to pub landlady Deborah Steel? - True Crime Diva

From the second article:

"Steel ran the Royal Standard with her partner, Brian McDermott. Although she made a good living, she left sometime in 1997 to set up a catering business.

Christmas was one of the pub’s busiest times of the year, so Steel returned to help out.

On Dec. 28, 1997, Steel worked the evening shift at the pub and planned to spend the night there. However, she left around 1 a.m., reportedly after an argument. It is unclear who she argued with."

So it appears that she was, in fact, no longer the 'landlady' and had effectively left the business although her partner remained the 'landlord'.

Who did she argue with? Was there a witness to the argument? Who witnessed her leaving the pub?

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A BONE found in a garden has reignited a "murder" probe into a beloved pub landlady who mysteriously vanished on her way home from work.

Deborah Steel, known as Debbie, disappeared after a shift at the Royal Standard in Ely, Cambridgeshire, on 27 December, 1997

Whilst the latest bone discovery "understandably stirred up emotions" for Debbie's family the detective said it did not belong to the woman.

They believe it to be a man's bone but they are yet to determine the exact age of the fossil.

It does not match anyone on their wider missing persons database.

With the 27th anniversary approaching of Debbie's disappearance, the force said it deemed it an appropriate time to appeal once again for information.

Bone in garden reignites ‘murder’ probe into pub landlady who vanished on walk

A BONE found in a garden has reignited a “murder” probe into a beloved pub landlady who mysteriously vanished on her way home from work. Deborah Steel, known as Debbie, disappeared afte…

www.thesun.ie

 

[tes1984]

Debbie's ex-partner said it wasn't uncommon for her to disappear for weeks without telling anyone. Not sure he was the right age to be one of the three men arrested in 2015 (70, 50 and 72 years old) though.

Her ex also said there wasn't an argument, but rather a disagreement.

Debbie was planning to set up a catering business in Peterborough, and was about to receive a large amount of money to set it up. I'm not sure if this was a bank loan, or a gift from her father, who ran a pub in Earl's Court, or from some other source. It seems very strange though to disappear without waiting for this lump sum of cash first.

I'm still trying to work out the identity of the prisoner from HMP Whitemoor, who claimed to have buried a woman in East Anglia.

 

[alb1on]

Debbie's ex-partner said it wasn't uncommon for her to disappear for weeks without telling anyone. Not sure he was the right age to be one of the three men arrested in 2015 (70, 50 and 72 years old) though.

Her ex also said there wasn't an argument, but rather a disagreement.

Debbie was planning to set up a catering business in Peterborough, and was about to receive a large amount of money to set it up. I'm not sure if this was a bank loan, or a gift from her father, who ran a pub in Earl's Court, or from some other source. It seems very strange though to disappear without waiting for this lump sum of cash first.

I'm still trying to work out the identity of the prisoner from HMP Whitemoor, who claimed to have buried a woman in East Anglia.

Brian McDermott was the right age to be one of the men. An Ancestry UK Electoral Register record shows him at The Royal Standard with a birth year of 1942-44. Whether he was one of the men is a different question to which I do not have the answer.

 

[tes1984]

Thanks for that.. very interesting. I wonder if he had a brother and son/nephew..

 

[dotr]

2017 rbbm

Still searching for answers 20 years after Deborah Steel vanished

This is the story of a heartbroken family's search for answers

www.cambridge-news.co.uk

''On her missing posters, police described her as being 5ft 6, of medium build, with ash blonde hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion.
She was last seen wearing brown trousers, brown boots and a dark-coloured anorak type raincoat.''

''She told the News: “I think Deborah left the pub and I do believe she went home to her house in Ely before she went missing.
“I believe this because police found her jewellery, which she never took off unless she was going to sleep.
“She used to wear my mum’s engagement ring on a gold chain around her neck – she never went anywhere without it.''

''This jewellery was found at Deborah’s home, together with her keys and mobile phone.''
''There were also two wine glasses there that appeared to have been recently used – police say it would have been “very out of character” for Deborah to have not washed up these glasses and tidied up after herself.

Clothing and a sports bag went missing from her home and detectives studied video footage from London Underground stations after finding a map in her home with three stations outlined.''

 

[trendsetter]

''There were also two wine glasses there that appeared to have been recently used ..."

DNA? Fingerprints?