00:00:03
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC] STACY HERBERT: Michelle was
fun, lively, like a big child. It's like she never grew up.
00:00:21
The female Peter Pan. MARIE HERBERT: She
was my best friend. Yeah, she's the only one
that's ever stuck there.
00:00:30
Always been there. TRACY RICHARDSON: Mine
and my mom's relationship was a good relationship.
00:00:37
We didn't hide anything. Growing up as a teenager,
we got on really close. She was always there
for us, no matter what.
00:00:52
The last time I seen my mom
alive was my 21st birthday. We went to my auntie
Marie's to celebrate.
00:01:01
MAN 1: It's going real quick. [FIREWORKS CRACKLING] MAN 2: Oh, that's so cute. MAN 1: Yeah, that's
a good place to be.
00:01:09
MAN 2: Where's your camera? TRACY RICHARDSON:
December 4, 2004. Phoned up about ten
o'clock at night.
00:01:18
She seemed tired, so I
said, I'll let you go and I'll speak to you tomorrow. - Within 24 hours, I had
a phone call from mom asking,
00:01:29
have you seen Michelle? Have you heard from Michelle? Tracy called. I can't get hold of her.
00:01:34
MARIE HERBERT: And I was
starting to get worried. This gut feeling. But I thought, nah,
she's gone off.
00:01:40
She'll be back. And-- [INTRIGUING MUSIC] [SIREN WAILING] - I first heard the name
Michelle Gunshon
00:01:50
on the morning
of the eight of December, when the phone went
from the crime manager.
00:01:57
Michelle's car wasn't parked
where it should have been, and there was blood. - When we heard that they
had found blood in her car,
00:02:06
my stomach just sunk. STACY HERBERT:
It's like watching this storm brew, this big
gray cloud in the background.
00:02:14
You're looking at it
going, please don't rain. Please don't rain. ALAN CROUCH:
At a very early stage,
00:02:21
we recognized that Michelle's
disappearance was more than just a missing person.
00:02:27
It was, in fact, a homicide. - Michelle's family
had to wait seven long years before her
killer could face justice.
00:02:35
TRACY RICHARDSON: You
watch many programs and documentaries on TV. You just don't think
something's going
00:02:42
to happen to your own family. [SOFT PIANO MUSIC] My mom was born in Islington
in the 19th of August 1966.
00:03:19
She grew up in London. STACY HERBERT: I always called
Michelle Auntie Michelle because she's
always been there.
00:03:58
I couldn't think of any other
title that I could give her. [GENTLE MUSIC] I remember she'd come
in and it would be like, kids!
00:04:13
Get your coats! And you knew you were going
on an adventure or something fun was going to happen.
00:04:39
With Tracy, it was like
having another sister. We were all just family. All the kids were
always together,
00:04:45
doing something,
laughing, running around, rolling down hills. Michelle brought out
the child in all of us
00:04:54
and making sure
that we all had fun. TRACY RICHARDSON: He
was a good person. He was a good man.
00:05:24
He treated my mom well. [SOFT MUSIC] [OMINOUS MUSIC] - In December 2004, I
was living in Manchester.
00:06:40
My mom was working
at the NEC clothes shop. Sometime on the 5th
of December I received
00:06:47
a phone call from a manager. [DRAMATIC MUSIC] Your mom's gone missing. STACY HERBERT: I
think I said to mom,
00:07:20
she'll probably
turn up at yours with some fireworks and a-- and a drink, you know.
00:07:26
TRACY RICHARDSON: I phoned
all the hospitals in and around Birmingham
and I was sat there
00:07:32
till three in the morning. There was no sightings
of my mom at all. NEAL KEELING: Michelle was
working as a security guard,
00:07:54
and on the 3rd of December
and the 4th, she did a shift at the new Exhibition Center.
00:08:03
After a shift, she was
having a drink with friends at The Dubliner in Birmingham.
00:08:08
She'd had to stay there
because her original hotel, the premises, had been flooded.
00:08:12
- Today the Dubliner
still exists, but it is
in a different format. So now it is a rock venue.
00:08:19
The Dubliner was
a popular Irish pub, but it was known
for being quite lively for having live music.
00:08:27
[INTRIGUING MUSIC] At the time of Michelle's
disappearance, there were rooms
upstairs in the pub
00:08:32
that were available
to rent on a B&B basis. ANDY HOUGH: Michelle's
two colleagues
00:08:39
agreed that they would meet
up later in the evening for a drink in the bar. They went to their rooms.
00:08:45
Just before 9:30,
Michelle hadn't joined. So one of them went to see
her and saw her in her room.
00:08:54
That's the last time anybody
saw Michelle alive other than a killer. About an hour later,
10:30-ish time,
00:09:04
we know she speaks
to her partner and her daughter on the phone. Again, that's
the last time anybody
00:09:11
spoke to her, other than
a killer that, we know of. ALAN CROUCH: The following
morning, two of her colleagues
00:09:20
went to her room
to see whether she was ready to go to carry
out a further shift,
00:09:26
but they could find
no trace of her. Some of her
personal belongings, including her mobile
telephone, were in her room.
00:09:34
She'd had 27 missed calls. - 20 years ago,
this was a bedroom and there was a bed,
where I'm standing.
00:09:50
On it was Michelle's
belongings, including the mobile phone
with the 27 missed phone calls.
00:09:58
However, at five
o'clock, when they came back to check the room,
her belongings had gone.
00:10:07
[OMINOUS MUSIC] At about 9:30 on the Sunday,
her colleagues went out onto Mill Lane, which is where she'd
parked her blue Ford Escort,
00:10:26
and it wasn't there. So they had to make
a decision, and that was need to formally
report Michelle
00:10:32
missing to the police. - I didn't sleep
for about three days. I tried to be normal
for my younger brother.
00:10:43
I tried to hold
things together. Now it was a blur. We spoke every day on the phone
many times through the day,
00:10:53
having daily chats. I was scared doing
that press conference. Mom was fun loving
and would talk to anyone.
00:11:00
I know my mom loves
me and my family and that she would never
left us on our own free will.
00:11:08
No recall of doing it. STACY HERBERT: The police
came to interview all of us, asking standard question.
00:11:19
Any reason for her to go
missing, any suspicions. All the usual easy stuff. ANDY HOUGH: When somebody is
reported missing to the police,
00:11:28
you make an assessment. Is it high, medium,
or standard risk? And that will determine
the investigative focus.
00:11:36
ALAN CROUCH: We're all
creatures of habit, to a greater or lesser degree. And that means that
we frequent places,
00:11:43
we use mobile telephones,
we access our bank accounts, we meet people. And in Michelle's
case, all those things
00:11:52
came to an abrupt end. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] STACY HERBERT: When the car
was found on the seventh,
00:12:04
that was when that
cloud really hit. ANDY HOUGH: Michelle
initially parked her car next to the Dubliner
pub in Mill Lane.
00:12:13
Mill Lane runs between the
Dubliner and the coach station. When it was found abandoned on
the seventh, it was about half
00:12:21
a mile away on Rea Street. We are about five
minutes, walking distance, from the Dubliner pub, where
this car is parked is roughly
00:12:37
where Michelle's blue Ford
Escort was discovered at about 2:15 on the seven of December,
which is the day after
00:12:48
she was reported missing. What was readily apparent
to the officer that found the car was its status.
00:12:55
It had got thick mud
deposited on the wheels, the wheel arches, the wing, the
door frame, the under panel.
00:13:05
This is an inner city area. We haven't got
muddy rural lanes. There isn't any way where
you could drive-through, and
00:13:13
capture so much mud on a car. That was unusual. ALAN CROUCH: A cursory and
initial examination of the car
00:13:21
revealed that there
were blood stains, and also in the boot
was what was believed
00:13:27
to be Michelle's
fluorescent work jacket, which also bore blood
stains on the inner surface.
00:13:35
When you find the car
with blood stains, that is very, very indicative
of something sinister
00:13:41
having occurred to Michelle. Andy Hough Huff was assigned
as the senior investigating
00:14:00
officer, and he made all
the initial inquiries, began to a CCTV trawl,
and then quarries were
00:14:08
also commenced at the pub. DR. CHARLOTTE
ARMITAGE: Phone records are incredibly important.
00:14:15
It shows the movements
of the individual on the day of their murder. It shows who they might
have been in contact with,
00:14:23
and all of these
things can provide clues as to where
the individual ended up meeting their death.
00:14:32
ANDY HOUGH: It was the case
of identifying, tracking her movements on the third,
the fourth, the fifth as best
00:14:38
we could. ALAN CROUCH: There was
a history of missed calls, predominantly from
Tracy, but there
00:14:46
was nothing of any significant
nature that at that stage would move the inquiry on.
00:14:53
DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
Statistically, women are more likely to be
murdered by somebody
00:14:57
that is known
to them a partner. It might be a sibling,
it could be a friend, it could be an ex-partner.
00:15:05
ANDY HOUGH: Michelle's
estranged husband was spoken to by officers. He, by default, is a person
of interest to the inquiry
00:15:13
because they are estranged. He's also the father
of one of the children, so it is important.
00:15:20
But we quickly identified
that he wasn't in Birmingham at the time, and we could
formally eliminate him as being
00:15:28
involved in a disappearance. [TENSE MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH:
On the ninth of December,
00:15:38
images were recovered
from two speed cameras, one on the Hagley Road
and one on the Bristol Road.
00:15:45
Those depicted
Michelle's car being driven in excess
of the speed limit through or beyond
those cameras.
00:15:53
ANDY HOUGH: This is
8:30 in the morning. You can see Michelle's
car quite clearly.
00:15:59
It's clean and there isn't any
mud deposits on the wheels, or on the wheel arches
or the side of the car.
00:16:08
If you look
at the driver's seat, there is a clear image
of the back of a male. And if you look
in the nearside mirror,
00:16:15
you can see an outline
of their face and you can see the seat belt.
So somebody sat in that seat
00:16:22
with the seat belt on. You could see a mop of black
hair by the headrest. And we believe that's
Michelle seat belted
00:16:30
into the passenger seat. TRACY RICHARDSON: I remember
being shown the CCTV of someone
00:16:39
driving my mom's car. At the time, we
just wanted answers. Who was it? [OMINOUS MUSIC]
00:16:55
ALAN CROUCH: Further footage
of Michelle's car recovered on the 10th of December
was very grainy,
00:17:00
it was very unclear, but seemed
to show what might have been described as potentially
some frenetic
00:17:08
activity by Michelle's car. ANDY HOUGH: We see Michelle's
car leaving Mill Lane just
00:17:16
after o'clock in the morning. There is an image of something
or somebody going to the car.
00:17:25
We can't determine who it is,
whether it's one or two people, but we've got enough
to say that's her car
00:17:30
coming out of race
street and driving away. ALAN CROUCH: I think when
you see those images,
00:17:40
it really just adds
to the fear that Michelle has been subject
of very serious assault
00:17:46
and indeed worse. Controlled circumstances, the
licensee of the Dubliner pub was shown the images,
and he was
00:17:55
able to say with
almost certainty that the person depicted
driving the vehicle was in fact Martin Stafford.
00:18:09
- Martin Stafford was
working at the Dublin hotel. He had a job collecting
glasses at the time.
00:18:18
DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
Martin Stafford was a 44-year-old
man who didn't really have a fixed abode.
00:18:24
Quite possibly due to the
number of criminal offenses that he had in his history.
00:18:30
NEAL KEELING:
Stafford had already got 23 offenses
committed in Ireland, including sexual offenses.
00:18:36
ANDY HOUGH: He is fitting
the profile of somebody who is of real interest to me.
00:18:41
Martin Stafford was actually
stopping in the same set of flats as Michelle. He left the Dubliner
either on the Monday
00:18:50
or the Tuesday of that week, so
he's now gone without reason. DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
Serial sex offenders
00:18:58
are unable to control
their urges, so sex offenses can
increase in severity in order to get the same
response and the same pleasure.
00:19:06
He needs to find his victims. He may need to increase
the intensity and the frequency
00:19:11
of these crimes as well. And that means
that this person is a highly dangerous individual.
00:19:18
- In Ireland, he basically
burgled a factory and indecently
assaulted and stripped
00:19:23
the two cleaners
who were female, and he locked them
in a cabinet overnight. DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE: He's
a glass collector in a pub,
00:19:32
it's unlikely they'd be
doing criminal record checks or security checks on him. He has very easy
access to victims.
00:19:41
He has an opportunity
as a perpetrator to stand and observe,
work out which individuals might be alone,
who might be vulnerable.
00:19:50
And that position gave him
an opportunity to do that, and to ultimately
identify his next victim.
00:19:56
[INTRIGUING MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH: Stafford
stayed with an associate man that ultimately we
were able to trace.
00:20:07
And during the course
of his staying with the man, they spoke about if they
had a body to dispose
00:20:13
of how they would do it? And Stafford actually
told him, I would dump it in some building footings
somewhere around Birmingham,
00:20:23
knowing that the workmen
would come and cover the-- the remains in concrete. ANDY HOUGH: Having identified
Stafford in the car,
00:20:39
I can declare him a suspect. That enables me to get
a search warrant. So I can do a forensic
sweep of his room
00:20:47
for any material
that may be relevant. We took the bed sheet
in because we know he's got
00:20:53
sexual offenses in his past. Could he have sexually
assaulted Michelle in his room
00:20:59
before he's taken
her in the car? So we took the bed linen
and we prioritized that
00:21:04
to the scientists at the lab. The picture that
I'm looking at now is a photograph of Michelle's
fluorescent jacket
00:21:14
that was taken from her car. You can see on the inner
lining of the back, there is blood staining
here and then up
00:21:22
the central spine of the coat. It's contact blood,
which means it's been in contact with her body
when she's been bleeding.
00:21:35
[SOMBER MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH:
On the 13th of December, we had confirmation
that the blood found
00:21:44
on the car and on her
fluorescent jacket was that of Michelle's. And it really just
added to our worst fears
00:21:51
that Michelle had been subject
of a very, very serious attack and was possibly deceased.
00:22:08
REPORTER: Michelle was
last seen alive here at the Dubliner pub
in Digbeth at 9:30
00:22:12
PM on the 4th of December. Michelle's car triggered
two speed cameras the following Tuesday
on the Hagley Road
00:22:20
in Birmingham and here,
on the Bristol Road. The driver of that car has been
identified as Martin Stafford.
00:22:27
The following day, he caught
a coach to Dublin from here at Digbeth Coach Station.
00:22:32
Now, he'd been staying
just two doors away from Michelle in a Dublin
pub at the time
00:22:36
of her disappearance. [MELANCHOLY MUSIC] - Within 24 hours
of my mom's disappearance,
00:22:47
I knew mom was dead. I had a gut instinct. I just knew, and I had
to hide that away from family.
00:23:05
STACY HERBERT: With Michelle,
I was used to having gaps with her not being there.
00:23:11
She'd go back to Manchester
or she'd be working away. But within 24 hours,
I think we all
00:23:19
had this kind of niggling at
the back like, it's not right. Something's not right.
00:23:24
She would have got
in contact or she would have turned up at mom's or here. - I didn't sleep
for about three days.
00:23:35
The media ended up outside
my mom's front door, so I literally opened
the door, told them to go away,
00:23:43
shut the door. - I just convinced myself
that she'd just walked off and nothing had happened.
00:23:53
But when they found
the car and the jacket in the back and there was blood
on it and mud on the car--
00:24:14
DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
The murder of an individual, it destroys the family
and the friends of that victim,
00:24:20
to know that someone has
hurt somebody that you love in unthinkable ways. I would argue that people quite
possibly never come to terms
00:24:31
with it, unfortunately. [OMINOUS MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH: The Ford Escort
was subjected to a very, very
00:24:43
thorough forensic examination. There were semen
stains that were found on the front
passenger seats
00:24:50
of Michelle's car,
which were obviously very, very significant. ANDY HOUGH: On the 17th
of December,
00:24:59
we got the result that
we were hoping for, which was semen staining
on the car seat,
00:25:05
matched Stafford's bed linen. On the same day
as the semen stain result, we also identified that
he's wanted for two matters
00:25:15
by the Metropolitan Police,
an allegation of rape, and he's also on bail
for a case of indecent assault
00:25:24
against a man. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] We got confirmation from CCTV
at Holyhead that Stafford
00:25:42
had boarded the ferry. So we now know he's
gone to Dublin. ALAN CROUCH: When Stafford
arrived at Dublin,
00:25:55
he relocated to a local coach
company to make his next move. He was throwing another
passenger's cases about that
00:26:05
were in the hold of the coach. Whilst this was taking place,
a woman intervened to say,
00:26:12
will you stop throwing
my luggage around? And to which a reply
from Stafford was, you want to be careful
of, I've already put one woman
00:26:21
down, you will be the next. ANDY HOUGH: I sent
my deputy SIO over to meet the police
in Ireland to talk
00:26:32
about what enquiries can
they make on our behalf and identify where
Stafford is, and also
00:26:37
for them to manage
any risk that he may pose to other individuals,
particularly women.
00:26:48
TRACY RICHARDSON: It
was a torture wondering when we'd be able to catch him
and bring him back to answer
00:26:55
the police's questions. STACY HERBERT: I think when I
first heard his name, that's
00:27:02
when it really hit home. I thought something
horrific could had happened. He had a history of keeping
women against their will
00:27:14
and locking them
in cupboards or something. You try to hold on to hope,
but you just knew this--
00:27:19
this was it. - With offenders like
this, what we're seeing is that the crimes are
escalating in severity
00:27:34
now, resulting in a murder. I would expect that he will lie
low for a short period of time,
00:27:41
probably enjoying the feeling
and processing that feeling. And then he would
look at acting again.
00:27:48
So for the police,
it's really important that they catch him now
before he has the chance
00:27:54
to do this to any other woman. [SOMBER MUSIC] ANDY HOUGH: In the new
year, the paleontologist
00:28:08
contacted me
to say that she had found pollen debris
within the soil deposits around the wheels.
00:28:15
That was indicative of being
from the Frankley area of Birmingham. ALAN CROUCH:
A paleontologist can
00:28:22
examine the soil
for fibers and plants and other things
that will make it potentially unique
to a particular location.
00:28:36
ANDY HOUGH: Frankley
is on the Western side of Birmingham,
the north-eastern side
00:28:42
of Worcestershire. You've got the busy
motorway, rolling hills, lots of country lanes, a reservoir.
00:28:51
It looked like
an obvious place to look. - It's a wide open
space, lots of greenery.
00:29:05
The sort of place where one
could understand an offender wanting to dispose of a body.
00:29:14
There were searches
conducted, but unfortunately, they proved
to be fruitless and sadly,
00:29:22
we found no trace
of Michelle Gunshon's body. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] ANDY HOUGH:
In the middle of January,
00:29:33
we know Stafford
is in Ireland, and we're preparing a file
for extradition back to the UK.
00:29:40
I also started a proof of life
investigation, which was, can we prove that
Michelle is still alive?
00:29:47
We had to go through her
yearly routine to establish. On this day she would have sent
a birthday card, for example.
00:29:54
She hasn't been
to the hairdressers. She hasn't been to the dentist. You know, everything she
would do on a day to day basis
00:30:00
hasn't happened. The presumption is she is dead. ALAN CROUCH: Every
investigator's fear
00:30:08
is when they investigate
a no-body murder, wants to do their utmost
to find the missing body
00:30:14
or remains. And it's a matter of
frustration, regret, upset and when that can't be achieved.
00:30:29
ANDY HOUGH: In early
March of 2005, we get the call from
the police in Ireland. Stafford has committed
a new offense.
00:30:37
He's abducted a girl
and he's kept her prisoner in a railway carriage. She managed to escape,
but he's been arrested.
00:30:47
We now know that he is
likely to go to trial and if found guilty,
is going to receive
00:30:55
a lengthy custodial
sentence, which he did. It was important to know that
Stafford would face justice.
00:31:07
He wasn't going to present
a risk to anybody else, but it was a waiting game. ALAN CROUCH: When
Stafford was sentenced,
00:31:16
the case came to a natural
end in the sense that there was nothing
else left to do.
00:31:23
We had to wait until we could
get Stafford back to the UK. - So it was a case get your
ducks lined up and we wait.
00:31:33
[OMINOUS MUSIC] [SOFT PIANO MUSIC] MARIE HERBERT: So that
was the bike ride day.
00:31:46
We just crashed out,
basking in the sun. - Hat. - With that stupid
hat on inside out.
00:31:54
STACY HERBERT: [LAUGHS] [CLICKING] MARIE HERBERT: We would go
on bike rides, climb trees,
00:32:01
you know, not-- not girly things. We weren't girly
or anything, you know. Don't-- don't sit
there, put on makeup.
00:32:07
None of that. Just tie your hair back
or just let it go wild. You know, we were
wild, I suppose.
00:32:14
You know, free. We liked to be free. [MELANCHOLY MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH: Michelle's
family were aware
00:32:24
that we had a strong suspect
and sufficient evidence for the matter
to go to trial, but
00:32:30
we were not able to make
her promise that we would be able to find Michelle's body.
00:32:35
That would remain
something that we would have to continually
try and progress. - I started having nightmares
of my mom rotting in a house
00:32:53
and other nightmares as well. I found out I was pregnant in
May 2005, but I wanted my mom.
00:33:09
[SOBS] I just didn't have
my mom to tell. My mom was very
family-orientated. She kept all
the family together.
00:33:36
In 2008, I did a Memorial
service for my mom. Family attended, police
attended, friends.
00:33:50
My son, Reece, also attended
when he was two years old. My grandad, David,
wrote a letter
00:33:58
just for what my mom was like. My daughter Michelle, she
was always a happy child
00:34:08
and a good wanting-- I can't. - It just made us all choke
up because it just hit home
00:34:54
and it's like a funeral,
but it's without the body. It's as close as we're going
to get to putting her to rest.
00:35:07
[EMOTIONAL MUSIC] - The police contacted me
to say that Martin Stafford was getting extradited.
00:35:22
I asked the police,
was my mom raped? The police responded,
we are charging Martin Stafford with rape.
00:35:36
That was the hardest thing
I ever had to understand. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] ANDY HOUGH: Stafford
is eventually
00:35:55
extradited back
to the UK on Tuesday the 13th of December 2011. He appears before
the magistrates in Birmingham
00:36:05
the following day. All we are permitted
to do is to take a sample to test his DNA so that we
have an evidential sample
00:36:15
to match to the bed linen
and the semen stain in the car. We are not permitted
to interview him.
00:36:26
That is the legislation. That is the law. He can volunteer
to talk to us, but we
00:36:31
can't start that conversation. So we never interviewed him. All we were able to do was
get a swab for the DNA,
00:36:39
charge him, put him
before the court. TRACY RICHARDSON:
When I knew he was going to face
charges for my mom,
00:36:46
I felt relieved in a way. My questions may be answered. ANDY HOUGH: On the 17th
of July, 2012,
00:37:03
the trial of Stafford
for the murder and rape of Michelle Gunshon began. ALAN CROUCH: When I first
saw Martin Stafford,
00:37:13
I found him impossible to read. I gained the impression
that he was an individual
00:37:19
that had a lifestyle of abuse. Clearly, drink and drugs
had taken its toll. And really, he was a man with
no authority in the courtroom.
00:37:32
TRACY RICHARDSON: I
attended the court every day for 10 days. The trial was hard,
but I also wanted
00:37:39
to listen
to everything what they had against Martin Stafford. STACY HERBERT: He denied it all
at first when he was in court.
00:37:47
And it just made you angry. DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
Stafford seemingly has nothing
00:37:53
to lose with his behaviors. If he ends up in prison,
he ends up in prison. If he doesn't, he doesn't.
00:37:57
I mean, he doesn't have
a lot in the outside world to live for. The fact that
he's gone to court
00:38:05
and just denied it,
to me, just says that he doesn't
actually really care about this system whatsoever.
00:38:19
[OMINOUS MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH: I was
in the court when the jury returned their verdict.
00:38:28
And of all the times
in your professional career, when you want something
to go, well, that is the time.
00:38:43
When the jury returned
a guilty verdict, I felt a great deal of relief,
a great deal of relief.
00:38:52
On the 31 of July, 2012,
following his conviction, Martin Stafford was sentenced
to 33 years imprisonment.
00:39:07
[SOMBER MUSIC] TRACY RICHARDSON: I
couldn't stop crying. I was like, yes, we've
found him guilty.
00:39:18
STACY HERBERT: Her memory still
wouldn't tell us where she was, and I just found
that very inhumane.
00:39:24
Like, the one thing that
you can do to make yourself look a bit more human and he
couldn't even give us that.
00:39:34
DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE:
When the body isn't found, it really has an impact
on the grieving process
00:39:39
because even in animals,
the animals need to see the body
of their, say, dead mate
00:39:48
in order to be able to grieve
and process and move on. Without that, the grieving
process is affected.
00:39:53
There's always going to be that
question of, are they dead? What if they turn up?
00:40:01
It's very hard to have closure. Something that hangs over them
for the rest of their lives.
00:40:11
[SOFT PIANO MUSIC] ALAN CROUCH: In 2015,
I was notified that Martin Stafford had
passed away in prison,
00:40:23
and the knowledge that there
was no way of ever getting to Stafford to actually
establish what he had done
00:40:32
with Michelle's
body left, really left a void and a feeling
of just major upset and disappointment.
00:40:44
STACY HERBERT: Mom found and
told us that Martin Stafford had passed away. And your first thought
is, good, rot in hell.
00:40:54
And then it kind of dawns
like, but he knows-- he knows where she is. Definitely aren't going to be
able to get them answers now.
00:41:07
TRACY RICHARDSON: I felt angry. I mean, I was like,
what about my mom now? All I think about when I go
to Birmingham or anything
00:41:21
is, where is she? It's cold. She's never liked the cold. DR. CHARLOTTE ARMITAGE: I
think the issue with Stafford
00:41:31
all along has been
about power and control. And this is him
not telling them where the body is, is
his one last attempt
00:41:38
at some semblance of control
and power in his life. And by keeping
this information,
00:41:45
he's able to keep some
control over that crime. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] NEAL KEELING: I
think after 20 years,
00:41:57
it's highly unlikely that
Michelle will be found. I hope that I'm wrong
for the sake of Tracy
00:42:03
and the rest of the family,
but experience tells me that she won't be. ALAN CROUCH: I go back
to the conversation
00:42:15
to Martin Stafford had
about if he had a body to dispose of he would put
it in some building footings
00:42:21
somewhere, and that
may be the case. ANDY HOUGH: Michelle's
remains will only be found by accident, unless
there is a prisoner who
00:42:32
served time with
Stafford, and he told them he let slip where she was. We know she was killed,
we know she was raped,
00:42:41
but she's still
a missing person. And that hasn't changed. That bothers me. [EMOTIONAL MUSIC]
00:42:52
MARIE HERBERT: I miss her. I do miss her. I'll never have
a friend like her, ever.
00:42:57
You know, friends
that come and go. She was one of those
friends that would be there forever
because somebody took her away.
00:43:04
So yeah. TRACY RICHARDSON: 20 years
on, it still really hurts because of the not knowing.
00:43:23
We don't have anywhere to go. And obviously, this is the
place where she was last seen.
00:43:33
Part of me feels like
a little bit closer to my mom when I come and lay flowers.
00:43:42
My mom was spontaneous,
funny, outgoing. My mom means everything. She's the world.
00:43:57
I love my mom very much
and I miss her every day. Hopefully, one day
she'll come home.
00:44:11
[THEME MUSIC] [AUDIO LOGO]