Fred West: No remains found in cellar search for Mary Bastholm
27 May 2021, 10:33 | Updated: 27 May 2021, 16:12
No human remains or further clues have been found by police searching under a Gloucester cafe for a missing girl who is feared to be a victim of serial killer Fred West.
Police said today that excavation work at the Clean Plate café had been completed and "we can confirm no human remains or items of significance to the investigation have been found."
Experts determined that some areas of the cellar had been undisturbed since prior to 1968, when Mary Bastholm disappeared aged 15.
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"Each area was carefully examined by the forensics team with support from officers from the Constabulary," Gloucestershire police said in a statement.
Police said they began looking at six "areas of interest" or "anomalies" in the cellar of the Clean Plate café in Gloucester on May 19 after they were identified by a team of forensic archaeologists ahead of excavation work.
No remains found in police dig for suspected victim of Fred West
The family of Mary Bastholm have been made aware of the update and are receiving ongoing support from trained officers.
Mary's family said in a statement: "We are still very sad that Mary has not been found. We were hoping to get a final closure on her disappearance so that we could put her to rest.
"We have been open minded throughout this process and we now know that the café can be ruled out. We can however hold out some hope that one day Mary will be found.
Police search cafe for body of missing teen feared killed by Fred West
"Mary was a strong willed and happy-go-lucky teenager, dearly loved by her parents and two brothers. She enjoyed life and was just coming into her own when her life was tragically cut short.
"Her parents and two brothers were never the same after she went missing.
"They have now sadly passed away without ever knowing what happened to their loving daughter and sister."
The café will be handed back to its owners once reparation work is completed, police added.
Earlier this month police said they had found 'six voids' in the cellar of the cafe.
Detectives had been examining if the cafe could be where serial killer Fred West buried 15-year-old Mary Bastholm, who went missing in 1968 and may have been one of his victims.
Police were called to the cafe on 7 May by a production company filming a documentary, which believed evidence of her remains had been found.
This included an image of blue material in one part of the cellar, with Mary having been reported as wearing a blue coat when she went missing.
Along with his wife Rose, who is serving a life sentence, West tortured, raped and murdered an unknown number of women over a 20-year-period.
He was charged with 12 murders but took his own life in a Birmingham jail before being put on trial. Rose was convicted of 10 murders in 1995.
