More than 50 years on, 15-year-old Mary Bastholm’s ominous disappearance remains unsolved – despite a confession from her killer.
Mary, who is believed to be one of Fred West’s first victims, vanished into thin air on January 6, 1968, while waiting to catch a bus to her boyfriend’s house in Gloucester.
The young cafe worker, clad in a blue coat and blue and white dress – never saw Tim Merritt again, with her disappearance on the cold winter day remaining a mystery for more than half a century as her body is still undiscovered to this day.
A breakthrough in her case in 2021, however, led police to become convinced Mary was another victim of the serial killer – among the worst that Britain has ever seen – whose murderous rampage was ongoing at the time of her abduction.
Herefordshire-born builder Fred West married Rose in 1972 – a nuptial that would become a death sentence for at least a dozen women, including two of the couple’s children, who were brutally murdered and buried in their back garden.
At least eight of those were raped, tortured and mutilated by West, who has since become known as one of Britain’s most notorious serial killers. Mary is thought to be among many additional victims whose cases were never officially solved.
Nine of his victims were discovered buried in the back garden of the Wests’ home in Cromwell Street, Gloucester, in 1994 – although Mary’s was not one of them.
For years, police had suspected that West was also behind her disappearance, as he was believed to have been a regular visitor to the café she worked at, now known as The Clean Plate.
More than 50-years on from when Mary Bastholm (pictured) was abducted from a bus stop in Gloucester and police are yet to solve her case – despite considerable evidence pointing to her having been a victim of the infamous killer Fred West
The Herefordshire-born builder, Fred West married Rose in 1972 – a nuptial that would become a death sentence to at least a dozen women, including the couple’s own daughter, after they brutally murdered and buried victims in their back garden. (Fred and Rose West pictured)
Another of the killer’s victims, Anne McFall, was also known for having worked at the same eatery.
Around the time West was first arrested in 1995, his son, Stephen, claimed his father had confessed to killing Mary – along with another 20 or 30 other women – but investigators ‘brushed off’ his information at the time.
In 2021, as the police continued to probe Mary’s disappearance, a source told MailOnline that Stephen explained he had given the information to chief superintendent John Bennett, the now-retired officer who led the murder investigation into his father and mother, Rose West, back in 1994, but was not believed.
The same year, unearthed tapes seemingly containing West’s confession of her murder, were discovered during the making of a Channel 5 documentary.
West, who had never previously confessed to police about the murder despite Stephen’s insistence, was heard in the recording saying: ‘The girl, Mary Bastholm, remember I said that to you in the car. I had to go back and give her a f***ing sorting out.’
It is unclear in the recording who he is talking to or whether he is recalling a conversation with his wife, Rose, who was convicted of 10 murders.
However Leo Goatley, lawyer for Rose West, said that the serial killer – who killed himself while awaiting trial at Birmingham’s Winson Green prison – was notorious for not telling the truth.
He told the documentary: ‘Fred West was a prolific liar. I’m quite sure that he did kill Mary Bastholm, but trying to extract the remote strands of truth from Fred’s fantasies and lies was very difficult.’
Fred West is pictured with his son Stephen as a boy. Mr West is understood to have told an officer his father confided in him that he murdered Mary
The cellar where police searched for the remains of missing schoolgirl Mary Bastholm
A police tent covers the site in front of the Clean Plate cafe after finding evidence a victim of Fred West may be buried there
While filming the Channel 5 documentary, production crew – with the blessing of Mary’s family and the cafe she worked at – drilled into the floor themselves and then put an endoscope camera down the hole.
In what they thought might be crucial evidence in the case, they captured what they believed were images of blue material matching the coat the girl had been wearing when she went missing – and contacted the police.
The areas dug up were identified by a team of expert forensic archaeologists and anthropologists ahead of the excavation work, with experts working out the remaining parts of the cellar had been undisturbed since prior to 1968, when Mary disappeared.
Following discoveries, police relaunched the search for Mary’s body, shelling out more than £55,000 to excavate The Clean Plate café – previously the Pop-In cafe – where she worked as a waitress and that West was known to frequent.
Her then boyfriend, Merritt, said he wasn’t convinced that the search would bring anything new to light. Before the search, he told the BBC: ‘I really don’t think anything will come of this. She left the café for the day, went home and changed before going to the bus stop to come and see me. Why would she be back at the café?
Despite renewed effort to find Mary’s body, a full excavation of the premises failed to uncover her remains – with officers believing ‘evidence’ presented to them was detritus from a pipe accidentally drilled though by the show’s producers.
The failed search left Gloucestershire Police having to defend their actions after no trace of Mary was found as they promised to review how the force had acted with the TV crew.
West (shown above) worked as a builder, and he may have laid the floor that is now being dug up as part of a forensic probe
Stephen West, born in 1973, is the third child of Fred and Rosemary. He was jailed for nine months in 2004 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl
Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said he thought the pictures showed wreckage from a pipe they had drilled through that simply appeared blue through the imaging technology.
He said: ‘Everybody working on this is disappointed that we didn’t find Mary. Allowing her family to finally lay Mary to rest after 50 years was absolutely the most important reason for this excavation.
‘The family had been contacted by the production company and the owners of the café and they were working together and the family were hugely supportive of the work of the production company.
‘New information had come to light that we felt it was appropriate to assess. The new material was predominantly that there was a blue material in a void in the ground under the café.
‘The information that was presented to us by the production company on May 7 was significant.’
The family of Mary said they are ‘still very sad’ that her body was not recovered during the Clean Plate café excavation, but continued to ‘hold out some hope that one day Mary will be found’.
They said that they had been hopeful that the excavation would give them answers to the fate of their relative, adding that they had remained open minded throughout.
Speaking at the time, they described the teenager as ‘a strong-willed, 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.’
In 1994, West admitted to killing his daughter, Heather, marking a turning point in the previously unsolved murders of at least 12 women.
The confession led to police searching his property, 25 Cromwell Street, where the remains of nine girls and women were uncovered.
Mary’s body was not found among those discovered during the 1994 excavation of the Wests’ home, now known as the House of Horrors.
West and his wife, Rose, were both charged with nine murders, with him receiving an additional three counts
Fred West hanged himself on New Year’s Day 1995 while awaiting trial for the murders of 12 women. He was never investigated over Mary’s disappearance but has always been the prime suspect.
His wife was left to face the courts alone and was later jailed that year the murder, later becoming known as one of the most most notorious female mass killers in Britain.
The tragic victims of the House of Horrors murderers
Although Fred West was convicted of killing 12 women and Rose 10, the pair are thought to have killed up to 20 more.
One victim who was almost certainly killed by West was his former girlfriend Anne McFall who like the others, was found in a shallow grave with body parts missing. West denied it.
The warped pair used whips to torture their victims as well as their own children.
Fred West committed suicide by hanging himself in a prison cell in January 1995 — before he could stand trial for the murders.
Rose West is still a prisoner at HMP Low Newton in Durham, having been handed a rare ‘whole life tariff’ for her part in the killings.
Confirmed victims include:
Charmaine West, eight: Fred West’s stepdaughter from his first marriage, Charmaine was murdered by Rose in 1971 while Fred was in prison.
Rena Costello, 27: Charmaine’s mother Rena, Fred’s first wife, was murdered when she arrived to pick up her daughter Charmaine in August 1971. With Charmaine already dead, it is thought Fred killed her to avoid an investigation.
Lynda Gough, 20: Miss Gough was a lodger in the West’s home and was killed in April 1973. Rose told her mother she had moved to Weston-super-Mare.
Carol Ann Cooper, 15: The teenager disappeared while walking home from the cinema to her Worcester children’s home in November 1973. Her remains were found buried in the Wests’ garden.
Lucy Partington, 21: After spending Christmas with her family in Cheltenham, Miss Partington disappeared after leaving to catch a bus. The student was the cousin of novelist Martin Amis and the sister of author Marian Partington.
Therese Siegenthaler, 22: The South London student was killed in April 1974 after disappearing while attempting to hitch-hike to Ireland.
Shirley Hubbard, 15: One of the Wests’ youngest victims, she disappeared on her way home from college in Droitwich. When her body was discovered, her head was completely covered in tape with a rubber tube placed in her mouth to allow her to breathe.
Juanita Mott, 18: Miss Mott, a former lodger at 25 Cromwell Street, was living in Newent when she vanished.
Shirley Robinson, 19: Another lodger, Miss Robinson was killed in 1978 after becoming pregnant with West’s child.
Alison Chambers, 17: The teenager disappeared in August 1979 and her remains were later found beneath the patio at 25, Cromwell Street.
Heather West, 17: Repeatedly raped by her father, Heather complained to friends about the abuse and was murdered by her parents in a bid to keep her quiet.
