UK UK - Elizabeth Swann, 23, Birmingham England, 1974

[badhorsie]

Police search garage at another former home of Peter Tobin...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-11604968

 

[brit1981]

My first thought was the Wests, but badhorsie makes a god point about Peter Tobin. The problem is that getting into what amounts to a moving steel locked box with a stranger is so dangerous that it could just be a horrible coincidence. Both the Wests and Tobin had been killing for tweny years before they were not only caught, but anybody realised there was a seriel killer on the loose so who knows what other seriel killers are out there.
What I find strange about this case is how difficult it is to get info. Despite the link to the Wests there is hardly any mention of her. I would have thought the media would have jumped all over a possible "new" West victim. Although if she is a victim of the Wests, she was obviously not buried in their house, and it brings up the foul possibility there is another burial ground with more victims.

 

[romany_star]

Im new to this site, but have had an avid interest in mispers cases for around 22 years. Elizabeth's Swann's case has always stayed in my mind, I believe she was one of Fred Wests unknown victims. Sadly, her case gets no publicity. In 2005 I did email the Missing Persons Bureau (probably not been called that for a long time sorry!) and they did say they had suspicions that it could have been a Fred West case. They're also in touch with Elizabeth's daughter, who I believe was a child when her mum went missing. Brit1981, Freds son Stephen told the police he'd found a possible burial ground, it was a remote farmhouse with a bricked up door and Stephen recognised the 'saggy' brickwork as Freds handywork. The police refused to look into it as they had spent too much money. This is documented in one of the books, I think its Stephen and Mae West's book about the case. Fred did hint to Janet Leach (appropriate adult) that there were more bodies. I dont even believe he worked alone.
Another case that I'll never forget is Jamie Cheeseman from Wellingborough.

 

[brit1981]

Cannot believe the police did not look in other posisble burial grounds with have at least two possible victims of west still missing, why not look for them.

 

[romany_star]

I dont know, I hope one day the victims will be found and their families will still be alive to put them to rest. He used to brag that he had bodies buried under the paving slabs of Gloucester. In the light of little April Jones going missing, I cant help but wonder about Daniel Entwistle's case (Norfolk). He vanished on the same day as Madeleine McCann but the police just decided he had been washed out to sea. He was last seen on cctv in a shop I think. His case gets no publicity.

 

[butterflynat]

Does anyone know if there IS a place to get additional info about any distinguishing features that this girl may have had? I keep coming back to this and although I know there is a lapse of a few months in between I kind of want to ensure she has been definitely ruled out....
http://missingpersons.police.uk/en/case/06-023866/pdDF44F

 

[Mrs. Badcrumble]

Bumping this thread with an article released in April this year

Young mum who may be secret victim of serial killer Fred West

With each passing year, speculation grows that the 23-year-old Midland woman may be one of the many unknown victims of serial killer Fred West.

Elizabeth was last spotted in Birmingham, where she was staying with her brother, on July 1 in 1974.

She was a young mother whose daughter is now believed to be in Australia.

She told those close to her that she had landed a receptionist’s job in Gloucester and intended to hitch-hike there.

 

[LucyOso]

I want to follow this

 

[CastlesBurning]

Bump

 

[JustJojo]

Bump... let’s keep looking at this

 

[MalthusXIII]

Well, with a bit of encouragement from polywog, I thought I'd start a thread about Elizabeth Swann, who went missing whilst supposedly hitchiking from Birmingham to Gloucester in the UK in 1974. Here are a couple of links that give a bit of info:

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1667dfuk.html

http://www.missingpeople.org.uk/areyoumissing/missing/detail.asp?dsid=366

There's two others to check out...Maria Aldridge missing May, 1968 four months after Mary Bastholm
and in 1967...Valerie Haycock missing after supposedly taking a job as a ''nanny'' on a farm near Luton.

 

[sonz82]

According to doenet, her case has been closed. I wonder why?

 

[Diane Redfern]

According to doenet, her case has been closed. I wonder why?

Doe Network: Elizabeth Swann (1667DFUK) was reported missing in 1974. Her case was closed per LE. No further information available.

Located & Identified Persons

So, has she been located? Did she ask LE to stop looking for her? I imagine that if this was a case of a UID matched to a missing person, LE would reveal the details.

 

[polywog]

Doe Network: Elizabeth Swann (1667DFUK) was reported missing in 1974. Her case was closed per LE. No further information available.

Located & Identified Persons

So, has she been located? Did she ask LE to stop looking for her? I imagine that if this was a case of a UID matched to a missing person, LE would reveal the details.

By chance I just found this new information on a Reddit thread about Elizabeth Swann - that she was alive this whole time! I’ve cut and pasted from the thread:
“

Update (October 2025): Case Solved — Elizabeth Swann Identified as Elizabeth Brown (née Swann)​

After months of genealogical research and record tracing, the long-standing mystery surrounding Elizabeth Swann has finally been resolved.

Official birth, marriage, and obituary records confirm that Elizabeth Swann — long thought to have vanished in 1974 while hitchhiking to Gloucester — was in fact alive and living in the UK until her passing in 2017.

Born Elizabeth Mary Swann in Meriden, Warwickshire in 1951 to Frank and May (née Wilkinson), she emigrated to Australia with her family in the late 1960s before returning to Britain in the early 1970s — the same period when contact with relatives was lost.

Records show she later married Thomas Leonard Brown in Montana, USA in 1975, before eventually resettling in Warwickshire, England, where she lived under her married name Elizabeth Marie Brown.

Her obituary, published in the Coventry Telegraph in December 2017, describes her as a “Beloved Wife, Mother, Nannie & Sister,” confirming she went on to raise a family and live a full life — far removed from the speculation that she had become one of Fred and Rose West’s victims.

The Doe Network’s quiet 2023 case closure now makes sense: Elizabeth was not missing, but simply living under her married name.

After fifty years of confusion and rumours, the truth has finally come to light.
May she rest in peace — Elizabeth Brown (née Swann).

Read the full follow-up and evidence breakdown here:
50-Year-Old Case Linked to Fred & Rose West Solved: Elizabeth Swann Mystery Finally Explained

 

[MelmothTheLost]

By chance I just found this new information on a Reddit thread about Elizabeth Swann - that she was alive this whole time! I’ve cut and pasted from the thread:

Read the full follow-up and evidence breakdown here:
50-Year-Old Case Linked to Fred & Rose West Solved: Elizabeth Swann Mystery Finally Explained

Unfortunately the original poster has deleted his post setting out the evidence for claims that Elizabeth simply walked away.