UK UK - Margaret Costen, 54, teacher, voluntary patient last seen leaving Pembury Hospital, 23 Feb 1997

[dotr]

Cops hunting missing Margaret Costen for 20 years comb woodland in latest twist
Holly Christodoulou
9 Nov 2016
''Former teacher Margaret Costen was last seen leaving the grounds of a hospital and wandering into a nearby wooded area on February 23, 1997.

Margaret Costen was last seen in February 1997Credit: Kent Police
Cold case detectives have now renewed the investigation and will spend two weeks searching the area using modern techniques and police dogs.

Extensive searches of the woodland area in Pembury were made at the time she disappeared but nothing was ever found.

Margaret had been voluntary inpatient at Pembury Hospital, now renamed Tunbridge Wells Hospital, when she vanished.''

''Local reports from the time say she was wearing a blue tracksuit and had collar-length blonde hair when she went missing.

It is also reported she had just £5 in her pocket.''

 

[annpats]

The forests around Pembury are dense and vast, and I'm not surprised she wasn't found.

Maybe one day someone will stumble upon her remains, but I'm not sure who.

In the US, many remains are found by elk/deer/bear/duck hunters....but as we don't have forest hunters in the UK like in the USA, then there's no reason for anyone to go in these forests.

When I've driven past, they don't look inviting. Not much daylight seems to penetrate those trees.

 

[dotr]

2017 rbbm.
3-week woodland search for teacher who disappeared 19 years ago
''Margaret was a voluntary inpatient at Pembury Hospital," said inspector Ray Quiller, who is a silver commander for the Kent Police operation, "She'd been in there for a number of days then decided she wanted to leave.

"She was last seen coming out of the back of the hospital and police sent search teams out straight away, but she was never found.''

''The police have used forensic science to divide the woodland into eight areas to search using the sniffer dogs, with an awareness of how the terrain and the area may have changed over the years.''
''Although police conducted four extensive searches of the woodland surrounding the hospital, she was never found.''

''We believe she had succumbed to injury or the elements," said inspector Quiller, "We don't think it was a murder but we're keeping an open mind, which is why we're investigating.''

''At the time of going missing Miss Costen, who would now be in her 70s, was wearing a blue tracksuit and had collar-length blonde hair. She was described as being 5ft 9in tall, and had just £5 in her pocket.

And a year later there was a reported sighting of the teacher in the now defunct Paddock Wood branch of Somerfield, although it was never confirmed''

 

[annpats]

The fact she left the hospital at the rear and went straight into the forests speaks volumes.

The weather for that week of February 1997 says it was a high of 7°C during the day and 2°C at night, so not much chance of survival if she was just wearing a tracksuit.

I'm assuming that she was there for voluntary psychiatric care? I know they used to have a psychiatric department & wards there at Pembury (and not at the nearby bigger main Kent & Sussex hospital.)

 

[annpats]

I went to the new Pembury Hospital today to see a friend. While there I took a coupe of photos of the woods and forests around the hospital and general Pembury area. They look spindly and dense and go on for miles. Not too many pathways in/out.

I'm convinced this poor lady went into these woods (they back onto the hospital.) I'm sure she became disorientated and lost, and succumbed to the elements. It was the end of February, so would have been cold during the day, and probably no more than 5°C at night.
I don't think her body will ever be discovered until someone comes across it, and I can't see that happening ever.

MOO.