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[Music]
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on the 18th of April 1943 four young
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boys discovered a skeleton buried in the
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hollow of a witch on tree in Hailey
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woods in the Worcestershire County of
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England police immediately got to work
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on identifying the remains and trying to
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determine the cause of death however the
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investigation hit a wall pretty early on
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there were no witnesses no physical
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evidence no suspects no real leads at
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all
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they couldn't even identify the remains
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but about eight months later the
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messages started to appear antennae
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scrawled in white walk across walls and
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abandoned buildings who put Bella in a
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witch film
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hey girly woods is part of hey legal
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estate which is privately owned by Lord
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Cobham it is located in the
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Worcestershire County in England part of
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the West Midlands region we call estate
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is about 350 acres in size and as the
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name suggests Hayley woods are secluded
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quiet wooded area the village of Hagley
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lies at the foot of the Clint Hills and
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is bordered by Stourbridge in the Black
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Country the nearest major city is
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Birmingham which is about 27 kilometres
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away or 17 miles we start this story by
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going back to April 18th 1943 World War
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two is still raging and the nearby city
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of Birmingham is still suffering heavy
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bombing by the German air force known as
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the Luftwaffe the bombing raids came to
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be known as the Birmingham Blitz
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Birmingham was an important industrial
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and manufacturing area for the war lots
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of weapons ammunition and supplies came
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from Birmingham this made it a prime
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target for the Nazis during the time of
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the Birmingham balista rovers 365 air
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raid alert spread out with 77 actually
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Iraq bombs going ahead thousands of
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people were killed over 10,000 houses
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were destroyed and hundreds of factories
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apart from there being wartime
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restrictions such as rations food and
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resource shortages and despite the fact
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there were planes flying overhead they
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weren't getting bonked so for school
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friends from Stourbridge Fred Payne Bob
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farmer Thomas bullets and Robert Hart
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were pretty much free to do what young
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boys do go outside and explore play and
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see what mischief they could find on the
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18th of April 1943 the four friends
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ventured into the havely or the state to
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explore the Haigler woods they weren't
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supposed to be there it is a private
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property so they were technically
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trespassing but boys will be boys what
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the boys were doing will depend on what
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account of the case you read but whether
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they were hunting rabbits trying to pick
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apples hunting birds and raiding birds
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nests or some combination of all those
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things it isn't really important what is
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important is that they happen to stumble
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across an old Hollow which young tree
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just begging to be climbed
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Bob takes the owners and climbs up the
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tree he picks the onion to the tree
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Hollow and he's in luck shawne's what he
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thinks is some kind of animal he reaches
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down to grab it but he can't quite reach
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Bob's things yet to his mates for some
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help and they end up passing him a long
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stick
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with the help of the stick bobbies over
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to reach in and pick up his font Bob got
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the shock of his life when he found out
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his discovery wasn't an animal at all it
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was staring back at a human skull the
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boys gathered around in shock at the
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discovery but also they were pretty
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curious the skull still had some running
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flesh on the forehead and there was
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still some hair attached they then
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started to chat amongst themselves about
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what they should do with the discovery
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the idea to tell their parents was
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quickly shot down Donnell trespassing I
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didn't want to get in trouble so they
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make a pact they put the skull back and
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forget about it
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they'll never speak of it again well
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that secret pact didn't even last the
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day Thomas Willis was very uneasy and
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was struggling to come to terms with the
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discovery it didn't take long for his
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parents that work out something was up
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and Thomas broke down in tears and
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spilled the beans to his father who in
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turn quickly called the police sergeant
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Charles lien born of the Worcestershire
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county police arrived soon after
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together with the help of Thomas and the
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other boys they managed to track down
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the tree in Hagley woods other police
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arrived soon after but it was getting
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dark
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no portable lighting in those days so
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there may be a decision to guard the
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tree overnight until the next morning
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when detectives and forensic experts but
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arrived the police he began the trade of
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souls they enlisted the help of local
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special constables and trusted
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volunteers keep in mind the police force
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was severely weakened due to the war a
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lot of officers volunteered to go and
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fight there were a number of officers
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who were reservists and they were called
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up to active duty and there were the
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retired military men within the police
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ranks who were called back to duty
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to combat a loss of numbers the police
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force was propped up with special
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constables and by new recruiting so
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maybe the standards weren't quite as
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high as what they would have been during
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non wartime I'm not suggesting the
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police who handled this case were
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incompetent or inexperienced there were
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still experienced police who remained
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and they very could well have been from
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the experienced side but it just gives
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you some idea of what was happening with
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policing at the time that next morning
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the 19th of April 1943 detective
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Superintendent evening-night arrives and
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takes charge of the investigation he's
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assisted by Deputy Inspector Thomas
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Williams and professor James Webster who
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is from the forensic science laboratory
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at Birmingham University along with the
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skull they quickly find that there is in
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fact an entire skeleton stuck inside the
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hollow of the tree but they're unable to
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conduct a proper examination of the
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remains as they gap in the tree is too
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small so they find an axe and cut the
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treat while they are better examination
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they ended up having to cut the whole
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tree down in order to get their remains
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here at the scene they find a green
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bottle but it's later determined that it
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was unrelated to the case they also find
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an identity card belonging to a woman
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now first of all they thought they had
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just identified the remains but they
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later found the woman alive and well
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although somewhat shocked as to how her
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identity card got to Haley woods a place
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she's never been before apart from those
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items police also had the clothing that
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was worn by whoever's remains were found
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inside the tree the clothing included a
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mustard colored cloth skirt a page silk
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under skirt a dark blue and yellow
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striped cardigan with a light blue belt
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and a pair of blue crepes old shoes the
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clothing was running away and was in
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poor condition but there was enough to
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tell what was there along with the
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clothing they also found the cheap
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wedding ring the skeleton was found to
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be almost complete but there was one
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obvious part missing the right hand a
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surface of the surrounding area fee on
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the air nearby and they've got ten
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meters away from the tree again
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depending on what a can / story you want
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to go with some say the hand was buried
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but other can't say it wasn't
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a post-mortem was conducted soon after
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and professor Webster finds that the
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remains belong to a woman aged between
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35 and 40 years old she was only short
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about five feet tall
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she had big brown colored hair there
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were signs she may have had a baby
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although it was inconclusive what was
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significant he's actually had noticeable
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irregularities in the front teeth of the
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lower jaw
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she was also missing a tooth from the
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lower right side of a jaw and it was
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thought that these tooth had been
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extracted within one year of her death
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but determined the wedding ring had been
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worn for about four years prior to death
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and the actual time of death itself was
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estimated to be eighteen months to two
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years prior to her being found which
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would put it between April and October
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1941 the remains show no indications of
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disease and the bones themselves showed
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no physical signs of violence there were
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no breaks no fractures but the factory
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was stuffed into a tree Hollow and a
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right hand had been cut off was enough
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to suggest you and met a violent end
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but there was something else a piece of
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taffeta was found stuffed into the mouth
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of the scalp taffeta is a piece of silk
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or synthetic fabric this would later
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lead the coroner to conclude that the
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woman had been murdered by way of
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asphyxiation he also concluded the body
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would have been put inside the tree
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while it was still warm
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neither while still alive or just after
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death as the gap would have been too
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narrow to get the body in if it was
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affected by rigor mortis there are two
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alternate theories as to how the piece
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of taffy that came to be stuffed inside
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the mouth the first suggests that when
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police were conducting near examination
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the skull fell out of the tree along
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with a piece of taffeta the police
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assumed the taffeta was stuck inside the
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mouth but they didn't actually see if it
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was regardless they put it back in the
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second theory suggests that the boys had
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made the initial discovery actually
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booked the piece of taffeta inside
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lumiose and apparently they later
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admitted this union abuse however
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nothing has been officially released and
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the police file is still closed so
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there's no way of telling for sure
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the case is surrendered with he say
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folklore and Chinese whispers that have
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been passed on over the years so various
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faster the case each have several
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different versions given the police file
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has remained closed is difficult to
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determine what information is fact and
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what information has been twisted over
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the years but regardless if the taffeta
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was or wasn't stuck inside the me up I
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think it's pretty clear the unknown
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woman met a violent unnatural death the
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police immediately got to work on
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searching through missing person reports
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they searched through over three
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thousand across the entire country it
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was clear the woman wasn't from the
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local area as somebody would have mr.
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Bonilla despite an exhaustive search
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through the records they found no match
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the place was certain I would be able to
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identify the woman through dental
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records so she had to through
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regularities and the extracted tooth
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they conducted checks with every dentist
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any one but again they got no match
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police got to work on the items found at
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the scene the green model was a dead end
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but they did track the woman's shoes to
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a Northampton manufacturer the
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manufacturer reported 6,000 pairs of the
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shoes were made most being sold at
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retail outlets but some solvent markets
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the fuser a dead end there's no way
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they're going to be able to trace him to
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an owner it was also discovered that all
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of the laborers have been cut out from
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the unknown woman's clothing but as the
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clothing was rotten it was difficult to
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tell if they were deliberately cut out
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to avoid identification or if the
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clothing had been bought secondhand and
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so the labels Riccardi added someone to
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greet their memory so not only did the
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police have no witnesses no suspects and
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no evidence they also had no idea who
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the unknown woman was so basically they
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had nothing they've hit a brick wall in
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a dead-end street as the months went on
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people started to lose interest in the
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unknown woman case the case had gone
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cold and world war two was still in full
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swing but about eight months after the
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unknown woman was found the case would
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take a twist in December of 1943 the
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first of many messages appeared this
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first message was sprawled across in a
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being a building on Aberdeen Street in
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Birmingham the message was written with
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chalk and capital letters about three
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inches in height and
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bread who put Lu bellow down the beach
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ill suddenly the police and the public
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were very interested again who wrote
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this message was a local tan is playing
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a cruel trick was that the killer
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taunting the police was that the killer
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throwing the police have false lead by
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writing the incorrect name was that
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somebody who knew something they
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shouldn't too scared to come forward
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instead deciding to leave a clue it's
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anyone's guess who wrote the message but
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it wasn't the only one reading it was
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the first of many
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soon after another message appeared
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Haley would Bella also really in chalk
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in the same writing as the first message
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and not long after that another message
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who put Bella in the which arm again in
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the same writing the messages were
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appearing all around the local area
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Birmingham old country or sister haylie
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the writings have continued all base
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piratical e to this day although it
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since changed from chalk to paint and
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has believed the later messages are
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definitely copycats or locals trying to
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keep the tradition of life but those
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first messages were allowed for police
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neither the police or anyone from the
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media or the public had ever referred to
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the unnamed woman this rubella or Bella
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police got back to work on the missing
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person reports trying to find a match
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for loo Bella Bella or any name
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containing variants of Bella such as
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Isabella but again they came up short
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place the field for the writer of the
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messages to come forward but I don't
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think any always surprised when they
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didn't police were never able to
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identify who was responsible for writing
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the messages they certainly had a great
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deal of mystery to the case but what
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they also did was give down their woman
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to name she would now be known as Bella
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police went back through their previous
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incident reports from around the time I
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thought that Bella was killed and they
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found something interesting in July 1941
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they responded to a report of a woman
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heard screaming in Haley woods police
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conducted a patrol but they were unable
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to locate anything or anyone of interest
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July 1941 fits with Bella's estimated
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time of death so these reports could
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very well be linked they immediately
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ready interviewed the person who made
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the report but they learnt
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thing you all the witness fit offer was
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that they heard screams and they saw
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nothing were these the screams of Bella
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there were all sorts of theories
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speculation and tip-offs that had come
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in there was worried plant the son of a
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local publican who reported a woman gave
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a name is Bella
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turned up to his parents pub to play
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piano in her term Warwick's mother gave
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her a pair of blue Krait soul shoes
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there was the theory that Bella was
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fleeing nearby Birmingham to estate with
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bombing and cross paths with the rapist
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or serial killer on her journey there
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was the local clergy members who came up
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with the theory that Bella was a gypsy
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who has killed his some sort of
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punishment by a fellow gypsies
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even though gypsies mountain- commit
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murders as punishment and Bella's
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clothing and did not match with her
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gypsy would wear then there was the spy
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theory or because there are several
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different versions going around spite
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theories the first thing that Bella was
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a German spy who parachuted into the
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country and somehow managed to land in a
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tree hollow some hulls were that theory
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but the clothing she was wearing doesn't
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lead when the pink sheer just parachuted
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and the other obvious heart
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where was the parachute analyst for
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theory was raised in 1968 when Ryder
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Donald McCormick claimed in his book
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murder by witchcraft that Bella was a
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Nazi spy her code name Clara her real
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name being Clara Bella he claims to have
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been given access to German military
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intelligence papers detailing how Clara
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Bella was parachuted into the West
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Midlands area in 1941 but she never made
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radio contact and she was never heard
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from again an ex Nazi spy friends rough
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gab who was operating in the West
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Midlands area at the time
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verified that he was aware of a fellow
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Nazi spy by the name of Clara Bella
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drunkards and she just so happen to have
00:15:33
two three varieties now aspects of
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Donald's story could be verified and his
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book and research and the evidence that
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he used the base Adhan has been
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described as somewhat loose and uneven
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in 2013 the UK independent newspaper in
00:15:52
a story I mentioned a Declassified
00:15:54
follower had a Czech national spy named
00:15:56
Joseph Jacobs it was caught up to
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parachuting into England in 1941 when
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caught who was discovered he had a photo
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of a woman he gave her name is Clara
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Galilee the back of the photo was
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inscribed my dear love you forever
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your Clara dated July 1940 it turns out
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Clara was a cabaret singer in German
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movie actress born in Stuttgart 29th of
00:16:19
June 1906 her real name was Clara Sophie
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barely in October 1930 she tore through
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England for two years performing at
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various musicals throughout the country
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she left England to return to Germany in
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June 1932 Clara spoke fluent English
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with the proper accent she was referred
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to by English audiences as Clara Bella
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upon returning to Germany she became
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well connected within the Nazi Party
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when it rose to power and she later met
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Jacobs in Hamburg where they became
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romantically connected there were plans
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to parachute her into England as well
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however Jacob stated these would have
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been aborted when he failed to make
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radio contact due to his capture not
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long after his interview Jacobs was
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executed it is thought that Clara may
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have parachuted in anyway and Clara was
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Bella but there were problems Clara was
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tall Bella was not and with the Germans
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really send in a spy who was a known
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cabaret performer an actress but
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previously toured through England they
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didn't really make a lot of sense what
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the independent report and other people
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who supporting this theory were relying
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on is that it was said to be no trace of
00:17:30
Clara Peller lay back in Germany from
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1941 onwards they're singing an acting
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career coming to a sudden unannounced
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end this combined with Jacobs story was
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enough to convince people Clara was
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Bella from the wood shop now over the
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information isn't quite correct record
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show Clara did continue her career
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through 1941 all the way through until
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the 16th of December 1942 where she was
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killed in Berlin
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proof that there is no way Clara could
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have been Bela inside the which'll so
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the first few spy theories aren't very
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credible yet though still often
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mentioned whenever the case is brought
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up but there is one that has slightly
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more credit in 1953 the Wolverhampton
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Express and Star newspaper ran a series
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of article on the Bela case to
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commemorate the ten year anniversary the
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articles were written under a pen name
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Cousteau a woman who identified herself
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only as Anna wrote a letter into the
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newspaper in response to the articles
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the letter read finish your articles
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regarding the witch on crime by Cousteau
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they are interesting to your readers but
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you will never solve them history one
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person who could give the answer is now
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beyond the jurisdiction of earthly
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courts mutters I having to use a nom de
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plume which is a pen name I think he
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would appreciate it if he knew me
00:18:52
the only clues I can give you either the
00:18:54
person responsible for the chronodyne
00:18:56
insane in 1942 and the victim was Dutch
00:18:59
and arrived illegally in England about
00:19:01
1941 I have no wish to recall anymore
00:19:05
signed Anna from Claver Lee Anna from
00:19:10
clover Lee was later identified as una
00:19:12
massa from Warwickshire she was
00:19:14
identified by police and interviewed
00:19:16
Oona's story is as follows she was
00:19:19
married to a man named Jack Massa and
00:19:21
who was employed in a munitions factory
00:19:22
in Birmingham during the war he wasn't
00:19:25
in the military and he actually had that
00:19:27
job to avoid being called up there was a
00:19:29
low-paying menial job but suddenly in
00:19:32
1940 Jack started to flash from serious
00:19:34
Katrina he didn't try and hire dad
00:19:37
either
00:19:37
he was buying expensive clothes to show
00:19:39
off and they were well above his pay
00:19:40
grade he also managed to purchase
00:19:43
himself an Air Force officer's uniform
00:19:44
that he liked to wear around to pretend
00:19:46
you as in the military even though he
00:19:47
wasn't the really farm that Jack had
00:19:50
become friends with the Dutchman by the
00:19:51
name of enrolled his real identity was
00:19:53
never discovered but unisys the suspect
00:19:55
of enrolled piece working for the Nazis
00:19:57
in Jackie's giving away secrets from the
00:19:59
munitions factory in exchange for cash
00:20:01
which would explain his sudden moving
00:20:03
out what
00:20:04
not long after Japanese separate duck
00:20:09
was gone for a short period of time
00:20:10
before returning to owner in 1941 he was
00:20:13
in pretty bad shape mentally when he
00:20:15
returned it was making no sense rambling
00:20:19
about eyes in a tree staring back at him
00:20:21
and her hand reaching out from the tree
00:20:22
trying to grab him
00:20:23
even though manages to eventually coming
00:20:26
down and then jack tells her the
00:20:27
following story one night not long
00:20:30
before he was drinking with his buddy
00:20:32
Vendrell and a Dutch woman they were
00:20:34
drinking at a little Ananse pub in Clint
00:20:36
which isn't too far from hatefully woods
00:20:38
been robbed and his dust woman friends
00:20:40
started to get into an argument and so
00:20:42
Jack agreed to take him for a drive the
00:20:43
cantina the drive didn't have the
00:20:46
desired effect of a rotten the Dutch
00:20:47
woman continued to argue the unnamed US
00:20:50
woman was threatening to expose the
00:20:52
operation of enroll and Jack were doing
00:20:54
in selling secrets than auntie's some
00:20:58
point during the argument of emerald
00:21:00
killed the Dutch woman Jeff pulled over
00:21:02
on the side of the road near Hagley
00:21:03
woods and they dragged the body out and
00:21:05
put it into the tree well that's one
00:21:10
version of the story anyway the other
00:21:12
versions suggest they weren't arguing
00:21:13
about that at all and that while I'm in
00:21:15
the car the Dutch woman just passed out
00:21:17
the in roarton Jack thought it would be
00:21:19
funny to teach her a lesson
00:21:20
so they dragged her out of the car put
00:21:22
her inside the hwigyeong tree without
00:21:24
going to leave her overnight but when
00:21:26
they returned the next morning I
00:21:28
realized that she was dead
00:21:31
regardless of what version it actually
00:21:33
was there was the same outcome general
00:21:36
and Jack were responsible for Bella's
00:21:38
death surely after disclosing the story
00:21:42
Jack had a complete breakdown and he was
00:21:44
admitted into a mental health where he
00:21:46
died soon after aged only 29
00:21:50
he died in 1942 the year before Bella
00:21:53
was even discovered so he was never able
00:21:55
to be interviewed there is a piece of
00:21:58
information that gives some weight to
00:22:00
this theory a witness for the name of
00:22:03
Aaron Oliver came forward to report that
00:22:04
her father was in the home guard at the
00:22:06
time of Bella's death and Hannah
00:22:07
colleague regularly patrolled the Hagley
00:22:09
woods area one even in area 1941 they
00:22:13
saw something suspicious they saw a car
00:22:15
pulled over on the side of the road near
00:22:17
a tree woods it got their attention as
00:22:20
it was a remote area and fuel was in
00:22:22
seriously short supply heavily rationed
00:22:24
at the time so people were in the habit
00:22:26
of going to random draws for no reason
00:22:29
they approached the vehicle and saw who
00:22:31
they thought was an Air Force officer in
00:22:32
the driver's seat there was a female
00:22:35
lying in the backseat who they thought
00:22:36
was naked covered with the coat Erin's
00:22:40
father assumed it was some sort of
00:22:41
meeting between two lovers and he didn't
00:22:42
think too much more of it but thinking
00:22:45
back now it's quite possible that Air
00:22:47
Force officer was actually Jack must be
00:22:51
remembering that he liked to dress up in
00:22:52
uniform and pretend he was in the
00:22:54
military
00:22:55
unfortunately on his father did don't
00:22:57
record details of the vehicle or the
00:22:58
driver so it's impossible to know now
00:23:01
it's easy to say well the spa theory is
00:23:04
such a popular one with this case as
00:23:06
it's so close to Birmingham an important
00:23:08
industrial city for the war effort with
00:23:10
weapons and ammunition and supplies and
00:23:12
because it was so important it was
00:23:14
heavily defended with any aircraft guns
00:23:16
so there was a lot of useful information
00:23:17
there to be gathered which makes it a
00:23:20
prime target for spies but whether or
00:23:23
not Bella was a spy or in some way
00:23:25
connected with a spy
00:23:26
we may never know but there is another
00:23:31
theory going around and it has nothing
00:23:32
to do with sports this theory involves
00:23:36
the dark arts and witchcraft the case
00:23:40
got the attention of professor Margaret
00:23:41
Murray
00:23:42
she was an anthropologist archaeologist
00:23:44
an Egyptologist who had an interest in
00:23:47
the occult and witchcraft
00:23:48
there were even rumours circulating that
00:23:50
she may be a doubler in the dark arts or
00:23:52
so she wrote a couple of books on
00:23:55
witchcraft which were widely slammed by
00:23:56
her fellow academics
00:23:59
the case got her attention for three
00:24:02
reasons the first thing that Bella was
00:24:04
found inside a tree when somebody's
00:24:06
thought to be a witch legend has it that
00:24:08
by burying their body inside a tree it's
00:24:10
a way to trap the spirits open not roam
00:24:12
and cause further harm
00:24:15
the second reason she was interested in
00:24:18
the case was because Bella's right hand
00:24:19
had been cut off severing her hand is a
00:24:21
sign of black magic and it's a ritual
00:24:23
known as the hand of glory the problem
00:24:26
with the end of glory ritual is though
00:24:27
its original involving cutting the hand
00:24:29
off from a node arrow has just been
00:24:31
inked and the healing had to be cut off
00:24:32
Hollow still hanging from the gallows
00:24:34
the cane was then preserved and turned
00:24:36
into a candle currently had the power to
00:24:39
protect Liana from evil spirits unlock
00:24:40
doors
00:24:41
and even find buried treasure was an
00:24:44
interesting theory but there was no
00:24:45
indication that Bella had been hanging
00:24:47
door that she was a murderer and her
00:24:49
name is beyond nearby so it wasn't taken
00:24:51
to be used in black magic ceremonies the
00:24:54
other thing nikka professor mary's
00:24:56
attention was the name Bella and his
00:24:57
close resemblance to the name belladonna
00:24:59
which is significant in the world of
00:25:01
witchcraft belladonna is a plant used by
00:25:04
witches sorcerers and shamans to induce
00:25:07
trance fire states it's actually lethal
00:25:09
in high doses so naturally when the name
00:25:13
Bella started to appear in the writings
00:25:15
around town professor Murray's thought
00:25:17
that this could be a link to belladonna
00:25:19
not only that it was a pub nearby named
00:25:22
the gypsies tent and had long been
00:25:23
rumored is being haunted and of course
00:25:26
conveniently there was also rumors of
00:25:28
witches Cobbins operating in the Hadley
00:25:29
which areas over the years but it was
00:25:31
nothing more than rumor in innuendo
00:25:35
professor Murray's theories are a bit of
00:25:37
a stretch and there's a serious lack of
00:25:39
any hard evidence in 1945 there was
00:25:44
another murder that got her attention
00:25:45
and she urged police to treat both cases
00:25:47
as related she was convinced satanic
00:25:49
forces were at work on the 14th of
00:25:53
February 1945 74 year-old Charles Walton
00:25:56
of the lower Quentin area was found dead
00:25:58
had been beaten had his throat slashed
00:26:00
with a book and then pinned to the
00:26:02
ground with a pitchfork some reports
00:26:04
suggest he had a cross carved into his
00:26:06
chest but this is inconclusive there
00:26:09
were rumors flying around there Charles
00:26:10
was somehow killed by a witches ritual
00:26:12
but these are largely unsubstantiated
00:26:15
it's much more likely Charles was killed
00:26:17
by a named person in the area Alfred
00:26:19
Potter and it had nothing to do it all
00:26:21
with the Bela case and if you're one who
00:26:25
likes to sit around and ponder different
00:26:26
theories and try and work out exactly
00:26:28
what happened well you're in luck
00:26:30
because there's yet another theory a
00:26:32
report made by a police officer in 1944
00:26:35
states that he was speaking to a local
00:26:36
prostitute in Birmingham the prostitute
00:26:40
mentioned that there was a co-worker by
00:26:42
the name of Bella who used to take
00:26:43
clients to the Hayley Woods area and she
00:26:46
hadn't been seen for about three years
00:26:48
it seemed to be more believable than the
00:26:50
witchcraft theory but again there were
00:26:52
problems what come forward with this
00:26:54
information now why wasn't Bella
00:26:56
reported missing this is a true story
00:26:58
wouldn't even mention something when the
00:27:00
rioting started will appear on the walls
00:27:01
around town it seemed to be a pretty
00:27:04
convenient story and it was never
00:27:06
confirmed if there ever was a prostitute
00:27:07
by the name of Bella working in the area
00:27:09
and there would be all sorts of reasons
00:27:13
and benefits and favors to be gained as
00:27:15
to why someone would want to feed false
00:27:17
information to police in 2014 a group of
00:27:21
engineers got together and tried to make
00:27:23
sense of all these different theories
00:27:25
and information surrounding their case
00:27:27
Norman Fenton and Martin Neal of the
00:27:29
risk information management research
00:27:31
group from the school of electronic
00:27:33
engineering and computer science at the
00:27:34
Queen Mary University of London study
00:27:37
the case and came up with a statistical
00:27:38
analysis of all the known facts and
00:27:40
information it's an interesting study
00:27:43
but even they will be the first to admit
00:27:45
that the results could be pretty rough
00:27:46
and they would vary widely depending on
00:27:48
what assumptions you rely on when you're
00:27:50
putting all the data into the case so
00:27:52
for example these results are highly
00:27:54
dependent on the assumption that police
00:27:56
really did exhaust all 11 years of
00:27:57
inquiry in relation to the missing
00:27:59
person record searches but I mean how do
00:28:01
we really know that for sure so if you
00:28:04
change that assumption to police big
00:28:06
names or Sullivan use of inquiry then
00:28:08
their results change dramatically so
00:28:11
whilst interesting these results
00:28:13
probably prove 9 it's just another thing
00:28:15
to ponder
00:28:16
but what they came up with was the
00:28:18
following there was a 99% chance the
00:28:21
cause of death was criminal a 97% chance
00:28:23
Bella was not British
00:28:25
and 93% chance Bella was still alive
00:28:27
when put into the tree a 33% chance that
00:28:31
Jack Massa was involved in her death a
00:28:33
25% chance Bella was a spire and a 16%
00:28:37
chance that she was a prostitute
00:28:38
so I guess who can make it out what you
00:28:41
will so who was Bella and where did he
00:28:45
come from who killed her and how did
00:28:48
they kill her who wrote the messages
00:28:51
around 10 so many questions have so much
00:28:54
mystery yet there is another twist for
00:28:57
this story the Bella is missing no one
00:29:07
knows where she is you say she wasn't
00:29:10
buried him steady remains were taken by
00:29:12
Professor Webster for further
00:29:13
examination once he completed his
00:29:15
examination he handed the bones over to
00:29:17
a colleague in Birmingham University
00:29:19
Medical School for further tests and
00:29:21
research and somehow over the years
00:29:24
Bella disappeared from there without a
00:29:26
trace not only that all the lab records
00:29:29
and forensic files that were with their
00:29:31
remains disappeared too just vanished
00:29:33
dropped off the face of the earth
00:29:40
unfortunately it isn't unusual for
00:29:41
important pieces of evidence to go
00:29:43
missing over the years in cold cases as
00:29:45
we've already heard in previous episodes
00:29:47
of this podcast but this was
00:29:49
significantly different they somehow
00:29:51
managed to lose an entire skeleton
00:29:53
somebody's whole remains was Bella
00:29:57
deliberately taken maybe further
00:29:59
evidence of some sort of spy involvement
00:30:01
and a some sort of conspiracy but which
00:30:04
she deliberately lost as part of an
00:30:06
elaborate cover-up involving a
00:30:07
well-connected killer if you just
00:30:09
accidentally lost or maybe thrown away
00:30:11
we will probably never know it and of
00:30:14
course this eliminates I hope of ever
00:30:16
being I would use DNA testing in this
00:30:17
case in the meantime I guess all we can
00:30:21
do is keep asking the question who put
00:30:24
Bella in a which are
00:30:28
[Music]