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foreign [Music] s deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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website in this episode was originally released on casefile's patreon Apple premium and
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slightly shorter allowing us to cover a broader range of cases to receive these episodes early and add free you can
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support case file on your preferred platform today's episode involves crimes against
00:01:01
children and won't be suitable for all listeners foreign [Music] 1997 was a public holiday in the United
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Kingdom with schools closed eight-year-old Jamie lavis could do whatever he pleased
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that morning in Jamie and his 11 year old brother John left their house in the Manchester suburb of open Shore and
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headed out to play even though it was cold and raining Jamie and John weren't deterred
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they and many other children in the neighborhood often played Outdoors unsupervised for hours at a time
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there was never any sense that this might be dangerous the lavis brothers headed to the local
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supermarket a usual stop as Janie was fond of lollies it was here where the two boys split up
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and went their separate ways at around 3 P.M John lavis returned home for his afternoon tea
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Jamie didn't his family didn't worry at first assuming that he'd lost track of time
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and was off with a friend somewhere StreetWise and confident Jamie lavis could get across town easily using the
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bus yet by dinner time Jamie was still absent Jamie was scared of the dark and always
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made sure to be home by dusk his mother Karen Spooner sent one of her daughters to go looking for him
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she couldn't find him [Music] by 8pm Karen was shaking and destroyed it was starting to get dark
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[Music] [Music] and just as Karen Spooner was beginning to worry her partner returned home from
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work Karen and John lavis had been together for almost two decades and had five children
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Jamie was their second youngest John told Karen not to worry reassuring her that Jaime would surely be home soon
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but when another hour passed with no sign of the eight-year-old John grew equally panicked
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Jamie was small and looked several years younger than he actually was Karen had to often buy him clothes that
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were made for five or six-year-olds if something had happened to Jamie his family knew he wouldn't be able to fend
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for himself Karen and John headed out to search the streets for Jaime they visited places where he liked to
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play and checked some of his friends houses there was no trace of him at around 10 pm Jamie's parents called
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the police initially it was speculated that Jaime might have run away from home two days earlier on Saturday May 3 he
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had gotten into trouble when he came home late with his pockets full of lollies this prompted his father to ground him
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all day Sunday staying at home the entire day had been difficult for Jamie he hadn't wasted any time in racing out
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of the house first thing on Monday [Music] there were reports that Jaime had told
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some friends he wouldn't be staying at home because he didn't want to be grounded again
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police officers set about looking for Jamie in places where they thought he might hide
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open Shore was one of Manchester's poorer neighborhoods it's maze-like streets were lined with
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derelict Terrace houses and factories the police knew that runaways sometimes moved into these abandoned buildings and
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remained undiscovered for ages searching all of these along with other similar buildings across greater
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Manchester was a mammoth task As Time wore on the police hosted a televised press conference to spread
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awareness of Jaime's disappearance at their request Jamie's mother Karen joined them
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grief stricken Karen begged her son to come home she reassured him that he wasn't in any
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trouble and told him that his entire extended family was out looking for him she asked anyone who might be looking
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after Jamie or feeding him to contact the police saying everybody's waiting for him to come home
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we just want him home so we can love him [Music] but days continued to pass with no sign
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of Jaime lavis the police search grew with senior officers bringing in dog teams Mounted
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Police and the forces helicopter to assist divers searched the river tame that snakes through greater Manchester
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soon it had become the biggest police investigation the city had seen since the notorious Moore's murders
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covered in episode 49 of casefile that case involved the abduction and murder of five children in and around
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Manchester during the 1960s although three decades had passed since the Moore's murders the subject of a
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missing child brought back painful memories for residents of the area they turned out in droves to help find
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Jaime and were quick to report any possible sightings on Thursday May 15 a week and a half
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after Jaime vanished a witness reported seeing him with a young man who had a birthmark on his neck
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an artist's impression of the young man was drawn and distributed but didn't result in any leads
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the lavis family was thrown into upheaval in the wake of Jaime's disappearance his father John quit his job at
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Manchester airport so he could dedicate more time to searching for his son Jaime's oldest sister who was 15 dropped
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out of school so she could look after her other three siblings and the household
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this allowed her parents to pour all of their energy into finding Jaime [Music] reports came through that Jaime might
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have been riding the city's 219 bus on the day he vanished the 219 traveled East from Manchester's
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city center passed through open shore on its way to the town of Ashton underline
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Jamie was known to ride the bus for fun he would board at a stop on Ashton Old Road a bustling Main Street around the
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corner from the laver's home on Buckley Street while searching for her brother twelve-year-old Jane lavis spoke to a
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local bus driver named Darren Vickers he'd been behind at the wheel of the 219 on May 5.
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Darren had recalled a young boy boarding his boss from the Aston Old Road stop at
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around 10 30 a.m that day he wouldn't happen to be wearing a dark blue Reebok tracksuit would he Darren
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asked Jane confirmed that Jaime had been the fact that Darren knew the brand of tracksuit indicated that he had likely
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seen Jamie as that detail hadn't been widely known for some reason the little boy had
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introduced himself as Dale [Music] Jaime had a day saver ticket which allowed for unlimited travel throughout
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the course of a single day he sat near the front of the bus and mostly looked out of the window quietly
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sometimes he chatted to Darren or a few of the other passengers Jaime traveled across the city
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disembarking at Ashton underlying station at the end of the line he got back on the bus when Darren was
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headed back to the city center and rode back and forth across town like this for
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several hours he told Darren he had nothing better to do and as he had an all-day ticket
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Darren saw no problem in letting him do so a few other passengers confirmed they'd
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also seen Jaime on the bus but no one knew where he might have gone after he eventually disembarked for good
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Darren Vickers told Jane he would phone the police to pass this information along
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he also visited Jamie's parents at home to share what he knew despite this major lead weeks went by
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with no news of Jaime lavis approximately 300 sightings of the young boy were reported by members of the
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public but the police only had confidence in three of these none of them had occurred after Monday
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May 5 the day he'd disappeared by mid-june it had been a month and a half since he vanished
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around this time investigators were able to track down some CCTV footage that confirmed witness accounts Jamie lavis
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had been at Ashton underlined bus station on the morning of Monday May 5. Ashton underline was the last stop on
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Route 219. security cameras there had captured Jaime wandering around that station then
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boarding the bus again as it prepared to return to Manchester the footage was time stamped at 11 20 am
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placing him there roughly 50 minutes after he first caught the 219 bus the grainy footage was shown on
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television news this evidence of the last known movements of the missing boy reminded
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the public of another case that had horrified England four years earlier in 1993 a toddler
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named James Bulger had gone missing from a shopping center in merseyside about 33
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miles west of Manchester security footage from the center would reveal he had been abducted by two
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ten-year-old boys one leading James Away by the hand James bulge's body was found Days Later
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near railway tracks he had been tortured and murdered by the other children this case had scandalized the country
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now they had another Northern case with grainy video evidence that was eerily familiar
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newspaper headlines compared the footage to that from the James Bulger case but there was one clear difference between
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the two no one was captured taking Jamie lavis Away despite this police were growing
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increasingly certain that they weren't dealing with a missing person's case they believed that Jaime had been
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abducted and murdered they told Jamie's parents that although they were still endeavoring to find
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their son the chances that he was alive were highly doubtful [Music] Karen Spooner and John lavis refused to
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accept this they held out hope that Jaime was still alive somewhere possibly being held by
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somebody in one conversation with the journalists Karen stated he's a lovable little rogue constantly
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talking I don't want to think the worst part of me thinks he's not coming home part of me wants him to come home
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we're going out searching every day and every night a reenactment of Jaime's last movements
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were filmed for the television program crime file members of Jamie's family participated in the reenactment
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including his brother John the episode of crime file aired on Tuesday June 24 almost two months after
00:14:05
Jaime vanished tips began to trickle in one in particular caught police attention
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a member of the public reported that Jaime's body had been buried in a shallow grave
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The Gravely in a 190 acre wooded area called Bogart whole cloth located five and a half miles north of open Shore
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police prepared to embark on a thorough search of the area on Friday June 27 more than 100 officers
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assembled along with dog teams and an underwater search unit the plan was to comb bogged whole cloth
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inch by inch officers walked across the park in lines scouring the dense undergrowth and
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probing the soil with rods thermal imaging equipment was also used in an attempt to find any possible human
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remains the search continued over the weekend and through to the end of Monday it yielded no results
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despite failing to find Jaime lavis investigators remained convinced that he was dead and his body had been dumped
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somewhere not only that they even had a suspect in their sights from the beginning they had been
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suspicious of Darren Vickers The Men Who had come forward to say Jaime had been a
00:15:41
passenger on his boss he was the last person with a confirmed deciding of Jaime after all
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but there was something else in the aftermath of Jaime's disappearance Darren Vickers had grown
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unusually close to the lavis family early in the case Darren Vickers visited the lavis family to offer to help them
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search for Jaime they gratefully accepted Darren was 27 years old with a partner
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and four children of his own but he was soon spending much of his time helping out the lavaces
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he did more than just comb the streets looking for Jaime anything that Karen and John needed at
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any time of day or night Darren would give them he lent them his car so they could
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travel further to look for Jaime and also joined them in searches up to 15 miles away from home
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he waited with the couple by soup wagons for the needy in case Jaime showed up there in search of food and sometimes he
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minded at their other children so they could focus solely on Jaime the sudden meteor attention was also
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upsetting and overwhelming for Karen and John so Darren assisted by acting as their spokesperson
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he made repeated appeals for information on television and in newspapers while holding up a photograph of Jamie
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flashing a mischievous smile hey Echo the labor says conviction that Jaime was very likely still alive
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he also participated in the filmed reenactment for Crime vial Karen would later describe a Darren
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Vickers as their Tower of strength he offered them help and hope when it felt like both were in short supply
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police questioned Darren Vickers in the early days of their investigation they held him for a total of 24 hours
00:17:49
which caused his partner and children a great deal of distress the lavis's were also destroyed to hear
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that the man who'd been their strongest Ally since Jaime vanished was being treated like a suspect
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as far as Karen was concerned the police had drawn a total blank on her son's case and had arrested Darren out of
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desperation and on a whim they were relieved when they found out that he was being released
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with no actual evidence that Darren had taken or harmed Jaime they had to let him go without charge
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the lavis family were among the supporters waiting for Darren outside of the police station
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they threw him as celebratory party upon his release the police didn't give up though
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next they searched to Darren's home as well as his vehicle although nothing turned up in the house
00:18:52
investigators thought they'd finally solved the case when they discovered a blood stain in the back seat of his car
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they took DNA samples from Janie's parents to compare with the stain but it turned out to have come from a nosebleed
00:19:06
suffered by one of Darren's children having his home searched was too much for Darren
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at this point he took sick leave from his job and his relationship with his partner fell apart
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suddenly he found himself in need of a new place to live Karen Spooner and John lavis invited him
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to move into their home after everything Darren had done for them they were more than happy to offer
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him a place to stay Karen and John slept downstairs in the living room so that Darren could have
00:19:43
the main bedroom he helped out by caring for the couple's other four children and taking them
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swimming Darren Karen and John had grown so close that Darren asked the couple to be
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godparents to the baby his now ex-partner was expecting when the media caught wind of the
00:20:05
suspicion surrounding Darren Vickers articles were published that detailed his arrest and the police search of his
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property Darren addressed the suspicions head on by reaching out to various Publications
00:20:18
Radio Networks and television stations in a television interview that was filmed in the Labor's home Karen sat
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next to Darren as he defended himself he pointed out that it was only because he'd come forward to report seeing Jaime
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on his bus that the police had any leads in the first place quote I thought I did the right decent thing
00:20:43
in letting them know that I'd seen him on the day but I'd never have thought I'd have been arrested on suspicion of
00:20:49
his abduction I think it's just a joke and I've got the backing of the lavis family
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relations everybody during one interview a photograph was taken of Darren sitting between Karen
00:21:06
and John on a sofa the couple's Expressions were mournful and Darren's arms were slung over their
00:21:13
shoulders as they leaned towards him his face was blank the seriousness of the situation was
00:21:21
undercut by Darren's choice of attire for the candid photo shoot while Karen and John were both fully
00:21:28
dressed Darren was only wearing trousers and was naked from the waist up speaking with the guardian Darren said
00:21:38
he believed Jaime was still alive stating someone is definitely holding him somewhere I think he's just too scared
00:21:47
to come home Whoever has taken him could have told him that if he goes home he could be
00:21:53
taken away from his parents a child of that age doesn't know what to think he's very easily LED
00:22:02
at times I wish I could just turn the clock back to that bank holiday Monday and to that the boy had stayed at home
00:22:09
here greater Manchester police were finding the Jamie lavis investigation especially
00:22:19
difficult ordinarily they like to work closely with victims families and keep them
00:22:25
informed of any updates in the case but this was proving difficult when the person they suspected had become a
00:22:32
trusted member of the family's Clan the truth was there were multiple reasons detectives had been LED in a
00:22:41
particular direction from the start when Jaime's sister Jane had first encountered Darren Vickers he'd promised
00:22:49
to phone the police and to let them know that the eight-year-old had been on his
00:22:52
bus that day but he never did instead the police had followed up with him one week later after they heard he'd
00:23:03
encountered Jaime other Witnesses who had seen Jamie on Darren's bus confirmed elements of his
00:23:10
account however they also described a very different scene than Darren Jamie lavis hadn't been sitting quietly
00:23:19
and staring out the window like any other passenger he had been running up and down the
00:23:25
aisle and acting as a sort of assistant to Darren Jamie handed out passengers tickets from
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the driver's cabin sorted their change and was even permitted to change the bus's gears while Darren was driving
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a couple of people reported that as Jaime took hold of the gear stick the vehicle began swaying and then briefly
00:23:47
mounted the curb all of the passengers jolted forward in the words of the lead investigator
00:23:55
Roy rainford Darren Vickers had made that bust like a playground at times Darren was seen ruffling
00:24:05
Jaime's hair and he gave the boy 50p to buy a drink the pair seemed so close that some
00:24:13
passengers assumed Darren was Jamie's father one woman asked to Jamie are you having a day out with your dad
00:24:23
Jamie had rolled his eyes at Darren then turned back to the woman and said no with my uncle
00:24:32
and despite Darren claiming that Jaime had a day saver ticket police knew that those tickets were only issued to adults
00:24:40
not children the detective's suspicions had only deepened when they reviewed the CCTV
00:24:47
footage captured at Ashton underlined bus station at 11 20 am that day at some points the footage showed Jaime
00:24:56
on his own but then Darren Vickers had wandered into the frame hate traiped after Jaime and ruffled the
00:25:04
boy's hair as passengers had seen him do then the two re-boarded the bus together
00:25:13
Darren Vickers hadn't told investigators about this when detectives interviewed Darren about
00:25:21
the events of the day he acknowledged that Jaime hadn't just ridden the bus for a little while then disembarked by
00:25:28
himself he'd been on the bus for six hours riding back and forth across the road as
00:25:34
Darren completed his shift Darren said that when his shift was over he'd offered to give Jamie a lift home
00:25:42
from the bus depot as it was raining he said it wasn't a bother as his house was only three streets away from Jamie's
00:25:52
according to Darren Jaime claimed he couldn't go home as his parents weren't there
00:25:58
so Darren dropped him near his grandmother's house instead according to Darren something must have
00:26:05
happened to Jamie after this detectives didn't believe this story at all if Darren had taken Jaime to his
00:26:15
grandmother's house why hadn't the boy ever made it there digging into Darren Vickers the police
00:26:22
learned that he'd only been hired as a bus driver a few days before Jaime went missing
00:26:29
investigators obtained his CV from the bus company and examined it closely a number of people were listed as
00:26:38
referees individuals who Darren had chosen to be his character references but when the police tried tracking these
00:26:46
people down they discovered that almost all of them were made up only one of the referees was real
00:26:55
he was a convicted child molester investigators believed that Darren Vickers was a pedophile who had seized
00:27:07
an opportunity when Jamie lavis boarded his boss on Monday May 5 1997. he had groomed at the eight-year-old
00:27:16
throughout the course of his shift by allowing Jaime to participate in the running of the boss
00:27:23
this would have been especially appealing to Jaime who was known to love buses police believed that after his shift
00:27:31
ended Darren had abducted Jaime molested him and then killed him but without a body they had no way of
00:27:40
proving this the police were equally suspicious of Darren's behavior in the wake of Jaime's
00:27:48
disappearance although he had come forward to report Jaime boarding his boss he hadn't done
00:27:54
so until other Witnesses had already said they'd seen the same thing and instead of going to the police
00:28:02
Darren Vickers had approached to Jamie's family directly and made himself invaluable to them
00:28:10
his fixation with the lavaces had become so strong that he wound up neglecting his own children and lost his new job
00:28:17
after taking too much time off to search although investigators were convinced that Jaime was dead sightings of the boy
00:28:27
continued to trickle in the police followed up everyone on several occasions throughout the
00:28:36
investigation they had been surprised by Darren and the Jamie's mother Karen turning up at locations where someone
00:28:43
had just phoned in a suspected sighting they often got there before the detectives did
00:28:51
it turned out that Darren had purchased a police scanner he listened to it constantly keeping an
00:28:58
ear out for anything related to Jaime's case the police believed Darren was using the
00:29:05
lavaces to gain inside information about the investigation it was also a way to convince them he
00:29:13
couldn't be the culprit by September 1997 four months had passed since Jamie lavis had disappeared
00:29:23
detectives decided to turn their attention from Darren Vickers to those around him
00:29:30
towards the end of the month they brought in his sister mother and his pregnant ex-partner after questioning
00:29:38
three other associates of Darren were also arrested including two close friends the six individuals were asked about
00:29:47
Alibis they had provided for him and threatened with charges of conspiracy to pervert the course of Justice
00:29:56
although there were inconsistencies in their stories the arrests didn't lead to the Smoking Gun investigators needed
00:30:04
all six were released a few days later around this time two teenagers came forward to police with a disturbing
00:30:15
story according to the adolescence a man in his twenties had recently taken them to
00:30:22
a sprawling 161 hectare Park called reddishvale located in Greater Manchester's team
00:30:30
Valley reddish Vale features wooded areas as well as a golf club walking paths and River views
00:30:38
for some reason the man had taken the teens to the park in the middle of the night
00:30:44
he tried to lead them away from a path and into a densely wooded area near the golf course
00:30:51
the men turned to the two reluctant teenagers and showed them a photograph he was holding
00:30:57
it showed Jamie lavis then the man pointed up ahead and remarked I think that's him
00:31:09
he invited them both to come with him for a closer look then turned to keep walking into the thicket
00:31:18
the teenagers couldn't see anything in the area where the man had gestured but they were still terrified
00:31:26
instead of joining him they made an excuse and ran away when the teenagers went to the police
00:31:34
with this story they said that they'd recently recognized the man they had been watching television when
00:31:41
his face appeared on the news giving an interview it was bus driver Darren Vickers
00:31:50
foreign it was soon discovered that Darren had also LED two more children to the same
00:32:01
area of the same park investigators decided to pounce before anyone else was hurt
00:32:09
Darren Vickers had a series of outstanding driving offenses which were enough for police to hold him for up to
00:32:15
10 weeks they also felt they had enough circumstantial evidence to charge him with the Jamie lavis's abduction
00:32:24
in mid-october Darren Vickers was arrested for a second time meanwhile a meticulous search of
00:32:33
reddishvale Park got underway on Thursday October 23. with some help from their teenage
00:32:39
Witnesses police traced the route where Darren had led them the spot that he'd pointed out was a
00:32:47
particularly dense wooded area with lots of undergrowth navigating the scrub was difficult but
00:32:54
about half a mile off the path in a small clearing officers spotted something it was atar Poland
00:33:03
lying beneath the canvas material they discovered a pair of dark blue child-sized tracksuit pants and a
00:33:10
child's green wax jacket the clothing matched what Jamie lavis had been wearing on the day he vanished
00:33:20
the clothes were carefully packed up and taken back to the police station to be forensically examined
00:33:27
because the clothing was wet from having been out in the elements police laid them out to dry before they were studied
00:33:35
as the tracksuit pants were unraveled something fell out of them it was the lower part of a small Jawbone
00:33:45
[Music] a fingertip search of the remaining wooded area uncovered more bones scattered throughout the location were
00:33:54
parts of a child's torso the body had been dismembered and there was no trace of their head or limbs
00:34:04
DNA testing of some milk teeth that were recovered revealed that the remains belonged to Janie lavis
00:34:14
police theorized that Darren Vickers had visited the location repeatedly as Jaime's body decomposed
00:34:22
while it seemed likely that some of the boy's body had been scavenged by animals
00:34:27
investigators suspected that Darren had carried Parts away as well this was most likely done to prevent
00:34:35
Jaime from being found due to the dense nature of the woods the detectives firmly believed that Jaime
00:34:43
had been assaulted murdered and dismembered in the location where he was found the thick brush that led to the clearing
00:34:52
had to be navigated using both hands it would have been near impossible for Darren Vickers to have done so if he was
00:35:00
carrying a body as well another reason they suspected that he had repeatedly visited the site was
00:35:08
because he wanted to relive his crimes when investigators informed Karen Spooner that the human remains recovered
00:35:17
from reddish Veil belonged to Jaime she responded by stating no it's not it seemed impossible that detectives
00:35:27
could know her son was dead from milk teeth alone even though Karen confirmed that the
00:35:33
clothing found was Jamie's it would take her months to accept the truth she couldn't believe that anyone would
00:35:42
trade a child so callously or that Jaime could be gone when she never got to say
00:35:47
goodbye Jamie's Father John was also in a state of disbelief Darren had been so helpful to them in
00:35:57
searching non-stop for Jaime John had believed in him entirely [Music] one of Jamie's sisters covered her ears
00:36:06
when her parents were told that Jamie was dead she didn't want to hear what the police
00:36:12
were saying or to hear her parents crying for hours afterwards the house echoed with the sobs of her mother and father
00:36:22
to add to the lavis family's pain they now had confirmation that the person they had welcomed into their home was
00:36:30
responsible for their grief not only that but Darren Vickers might have been poised to strike again
00:36:39
while he had ignored Jaime's two sisters during the time he'd spent with the lavaces he had showered 11 year old John
00:36:46
with attention Darren had bought John a new bike and shoes this special treatment was eerily
00:36:55
similar to the way he'd groomed Jaime for hours on the bus it emerged that Darren had also taken
00:37:04
John for rides across town on buses John looked quite similar to Jamie his presence on the city's buses had led
00:37:13
to members of the public phoning in incorrect sightings of Jamie detectives believed that Darren did this
00:37:21
to intentionally throw the investigation off track on one occasion Darren had even taken
00:37:28
John lavis to reddishvale sitting John down on a tree stump Darren had given him a cigarette and then he
00:37:37
stated this is where your Jamie is and if you don't behave yourself I'll throw you in
00:37:47
[Music] Darren Vickers was charged with the murder of Jamie lavis while he was on remand he penned a
00:37:56
15-page statement which he gave to the police the document was a confession of sorts
00:38:04
he claimed that Jaime had stayed on the bus until the end of his shift as Darren had prepared to garage the bus
00:38:12
Jaime began playing with its ticket machine quote I'm not sure where it went wrong Jaime
00:38:20
was starting to mess with the ticket machine I told him don't you'll jam it I raised my left hand and hit him on the
00:38:29
side of the head I looked around and to break tired because a car was turning right
00:38:36
when I hit him Jamie fell back hitting his head on the luggage rack Darren claimed that Jaime then fell
00:38:45
forward knocking his head a second time and falling into the well of the bus's exit doors
00:38:51
quote I said sorry Jamie are you okay his eyes were closed I couldn't find a pulse I
00:39:00
started to panic bad Christ I've killed him Darren Vickers claimed that after his
00:39:09
shift he left his bus at the Depot and drove home with the Jamie's body stashed in his car
00:39:15
as the house next door to his was empty he put Jamie's body in there then he took his partner and children
00:39:23
over to his parents house once they were out of the way he transferred Jaime's body back to his car
00:39:31
he then took it to reddishvale where he dumped it the confession concluded quote
00:39:39
I did not mean for anything like this to happen I'm sorry but I hope now that this is an end to all this
00:39:48
Darren Vickers was adamant that Jaime's death was an accident investigators dismissed the confession
00:39:56
as yet another lie he'd concocted to save face not long after confessing and Darren
00:40:07
Vickers told investigators that he would plead guilty to spare Jaime's family further suffering
00:40:14
but he soon retracted his confession and reneged on This Promise instead opting to go to trial
00:40:22
the seven-wake trial began in early March 1999 almost two years after Jaime was killed
00:40:30
with no forensic evidence tying Darren to the crime and the method of murder unknown the prosecution relied heavily
00:40:38
on Darren's bizarre behavior as evidence of guilt Darren took the stand in his own defense
00:40:45
and presented the jury with yet another version of events he implicated Jaime's Father John lavis
00:40:53
in Jaime's murder claiming that John had a violent streak Darren also said that five days after
00:41:01
Jaime disappeared he and to Jamie's mother had started a sexual relationship the two had been searching a park
00:41:09
together when Karen told Darren that she found him attractive it was obvious what she was on about
00:41:16
Darren stated there was no harm in what we were doing there was no harm in it at all it was
00:41:23
between ourselves [Music] Darren claimed that the next time the two were alone together they had sex
00:41:30
again he said that in total they'd been intimate together 11 times [Music] at the time of the trial Karen Spooner
00:41:40
was pregnant again Darren Vickers claimed that the baby was his Karen was forced to take a blood test to
00:41:50
prove that her longtime partner John was actually the baby's father when she took the stand she was clear
00:41:58
that she'd never had any kind of romantic relationship with Darren Vickers quote
00:42:04
I've been with my partner nearly 18 years I've never had any cause to go behind his back
00:42:13
and Darren vicker's latest lies traumatized the lavis family further his claims were splashed across tabloids
00:42:22
people whispered behind their backs and a graffiti was scrawled in the lavis's neighborhood that accused Karen of
00:42:29
sleeping with her son's murderer Karen Spooner had her Integrity questioned and John lavis was in total
00:42:37
shock that anyone would accuse him of being violent towards his children as his daughter Nicola told the
00:42:45
television program real crime crocodile tears he worshiped his kids lead investigator Roy rainford
00:42:56
attributed the outrageous claims to Darren vicker's desire for control quote he's a control freak he was controlling
00:43:06
the family he was controlling the media and he was trying to control our inquiries
00:43:12
right up to the end after deliberating for two days the jury of nine women and three men unanimously
00:43:22
declared Darren Vickers guilty Karen Spooner cried as the verdict was delivered the judge sentenced to Darren to life
00:43:33
for murder and an additional four years for the Abduction of Jaime with a minimum of 25 years
00:43:40
he described Darren vicker's crimes as truly Wicked and denoted that he'd told lies with Frills on throughout the
00:43:48
investigation and the trial the two teenagers who had come forward to report Darren Vickers to police were
00:43:57
praised by the judge each were rewarded 150 pounds from public funds outside Court Karen Spooner said
00:44:09
and justice has been done today for Jaime hopefully now he can rest in peace no child deserves to Die the way Jaime
00:44:19
died and hopefully now Darren Vickers is in prison children in Manchester will be
00:44:25
safer less than 24 hours after he was convicted Darren Vickers requested to speak with the case's lead investigator
00:44:37
Roy rainford four days later the detective visited him in prison through tears Darren admitted that the
00:44:48
police had gotten it right he had abducted sexually assaulted and murdered Jamie lavis
00:44:56
Darren also with the drew his allegations against Jamie's father he gave a similar though less emotional
00:45:05
confession to fellow prisoners he admitted to a cellmate that he'd sexually abused Jamie on his bus before
00:45:12
quote swiping out at the boy when he went to pocket some cash Darren Vickers told other inmates that
00:45:21
he and some friends used to hang around near group homes for disadvantaged children in the hopes of propositioning
00:45:27
minors stating they will do anything for money the confession given to Roy rainford
00:45:37
would be taken into account when the time came for Darren Vickers to apply for parole
00:45:43
he's a long-awaited admission brought some relief to the lavis family speaking with the journalists Karen
00:45:51
Spooner said it shows he has a conscience I'm sure he has done it for his own reasons but it
00:45:58
means a lot to us this will totally clear John's name Darren Vickers has attempted to appeal
00:46:08
his conviction twice since 1999. in 2005 a story broke in which his mother Wendy claimed there was new
00:46:17
evidence and that Darren had an alibi for May 5 1997. she said that his prison confession was
00:46:26
false and he'd made it up to prevent her his ex-partner his sister and two friends from having to go to court
00:46:33
themselves all had been charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of Justice
00:46:42
investigators believed they had all cooked up a plan together to lie for Darren Vickers
00:46:48
the group were found not guilty of the charges but Darren's bids to appeal his conviction have both failed
00:46:55
[Music] as of late 2022 he remains incarcerated in a Maximum Security Prison in November 2022 news broke that Darren
00:47:09
now aged 56 may be free within several months in February 2023 the parole board will
00:47:18
consider his application for release during the hearing the board will consider the risk he may pose to the
00:47:26
community if allowed out one police officer who worked closely with the lavis family during the
00:47:34
investigation told the Manchester Evening News quote Vickers will be a danger to children for
00:47:41
the rest of his life he can never be rehabilitated in my opinion Jaime lavis's loved ones had to wait for
00:47:53
more than a year after he went missing before they could lay him to rest in the years since he was killed his
00:48:00
family visited his graveside regularly in the documentary Somebody's Daughter somebody's son one of Jamie's sisters
00:48:09
said she tried to cope by focusing on her family and keeping Jaime's memory alive
00:48:16
she refused to waste time thinking about Darren Vickers stating he doesn't deserve my thoughts
00:48:26
Karen Spooner told producers for the television program real crime crocodile tears that whenever she visited Jaime
00:48:34
for his birthday or at Christmas she would reflect on how wrong it was instead of being able to buy him toys
00:48:42
and presents she had to buy him flowers and ornaments for his headstone Karen wrote poetry to express her grief
00:48:51
though she found reading the poems aloud too painful one poem that she wrote for Jamie reads
00:49:01
for all the precious gifts in life however Great and Small to have you as my son was the greatest gift of all
00:49:10
your smile is gone forever your hand I cannot touch I will never lose a memory of the sun I love so much
00:49:21
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