It was the mystery that stunned the nation: Grandmother Trevaline Evans vanished into thin air one summer day in 1990 after leaving a note on the door of her antique shop in the Welsh town of Llangollen that read, “Be back in two minutes.”
Now a former carpet installer has revealed that on the day she disappeared he saw a stranger in the small town, set in a World Heritage Site in Denbighshire – and he bore an extraordinary resemblance to double murderer Christopher Halliwell.
The mechanic, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he had seen the man behaving “strangely” three times during the 52-year-old’s disappearance, once on the day before her disappearance and twice on the day of her disappearance. her disappearance. day itself.
Speaking to Silent Witness star Emilia Fox and criminologist Professor David Wilson about their cold case investigative series In the Footsteps of Killers, he said: ‘I have made a statement to North Wales Police. The police later contacted me several times, but they told me there was no trace of that vehicle. It was gone.’
It was on June 16, 1990 that Trevaline went missing. She left her shop, Attic Antiques, at about 12:40 a.m., with the note on the door, and went to buy an apple and a banana.
Trevaline Evans disappeared one summer day in 1990 after leaving a note on the door of her antique shop in Llangollen, Wales
It is unknown if she returned to the store, but a banana peel was found in the bin. Her handbag and coat were found in the store, along with fruit and flowers that she presumably wanted to take home.
Trevaline’s last sighting was at 2:30 p.m. near her home on Market Street. Five minutes later she saw a woman matching her description walking out of town along the A5 towards Corwell. At 15:45 there was a similar sighting.
Det Chief Insp Colin Edwards, who led the ongoing investigation, said at the time: ‘It is without a doubt the strangest investigation I have ever been involved in. How a happily married woman can disappear without a trace on a sunny Saturday morning in a busy city center is completely mind-boggling.’
Four men have been linked to her disappearance: Trevaline’s late husband Richard, who was arrested and released without charge; a “nicely dressed man,” who was seen with her the day before she went missing and was never traced; serial killer Robin Ligus; and a stranger who resembled double killer Halliwell.
The stranger was first seen in Llangollen the day before Trevaline disappeared. “I was just off Market Street with a colleague laying a carpet and we had laid the carpet on the street,” revealed the mechanic, who has lived in the city for most of his life.
“There was a man walking down Market Street, but he didn’t hang out with us at all. He was actually acting strange. We had full view of him. He was quite tall and he had big eyes, I remember big staring eyes. He turned and walked back to Market Street.’
The next morning he saw him again. “I went up Horseshoe Pass at about 7:45 am,” he added. “There was an RV parked on the shoulder and as I approached it, the same man I saw on Friday night got out of the RV.
“It was definitely the same man I had seen on Friday night. He was wearing the same clothes and I thought it was very strange where he was parked, because there was a parking lot on the other side where he could have parked, but he was actually standing in the grass verge and looking at the landscape.’
Now a former carpet installer has revealed that on the day she disappeared he saw a stranger in the small town, located on a World Heritage Site in Denbighshire – and he bore an extraordinary resemblance to double murderer Christopher Halliwell (pictured)
Speaking to Silent Witness star Emilia Fox and criminologist Professor David Wilson (pictured together), about their cold case investigative series In the Footsteps of Killers, the mechanic said: Wales. The police later contacted me several times, but they told me there was no trace of that vehicle. It was gone’
It was on June 16, 1990 that Trevaline went missing. She left her shop, Attic Antiques, at about 12:40 a.m., with the note on the door, and went to buy an apple and a banana
Four men have been linked to her disappearance: Trevaline’s late husband Richard (left), who was arrested and released without charge. The antiques dealer disappeared after putting a note in her shop door saying she’d be back in two minutes, right?
The last sighting was around the time Trevaline came out to buy fruit. The van was parked in the parking lot at Kwik Save supermarket, two minutes from the store.
“I saw his vehicle later that day,” he added. “I would say it was 12:30. On my way back to Llangollen I passed what was then called Kwik Save at the bottom of the car park, saw the same vehicle I had seen that morning parked in the bay in the supermarket car park.’
Halliwell, a Swindon taxi driver, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2016 after admitting to killing Becky Godden-Edwards, 20, in 2003 while being questioned over the murder of another young woman, Sian O’Callaghan, 22 , in 2011.
He led police to where he had buried the body, but a Supreme Court judge initially ruled that the evidence was inadmissible in court because Detective Superintendent Steve Fulcher, who led the investigation, failed to warn him in advance.
The police officer then discovered a secret shop selling women’s clothing, which Halliwell is said to have kept as trophies from his murders: only two of the 60 items have been identified: a vest worn by Becky and a high-heeled boot worn by Sian before she was kidnapped.
Fox said on the programme: “Christopher Halliwell worked in the area, a witness saw him in town the day Trevaline disappeared, and we know he was a master at disposing of bodies.”
Fox and Wilson also tracked down a former girlfriend of Trevaline’s brother Philip, Linda, who identified him as the “neatly dressed man” and explained that he was not recognized when he worked in Budapest, Hungary. He died 14 years ago.
She met him on Monday, June 18, two days after Trevaline went missing, at the Jenny Jones pub where she worked, and dated him for five years.
“I met him on Monday night and from there he just felt he could tell me everything that was going on,” she added. “He opened his heart to me.”
In the Footsteps of Killers: The Disappearance of Trevaline Evans is available on Channel 4. Pictured, Silent Witness star Emilia Fox and criminologist Professor David Wilson
Linda revealed that, contrary to what was claimed at the time, Trevaline’s marriage was on the rocks. “She was not in a happy marriage,” she admitted. She wasn’t pleased at all.
Richard was not loved at all. Because I worked at the Jenny Jones, he came in and wanted to talk to me alone. Maybe I was naive enough not to understand that he might be trying to figure out what was going on while I was with Phil.
“He was always the same, same hanging expression. His face has never changed. He never said, ‘I don’t understand why she’s gone. Is it with someone else? Did she run away?” He never told me he loved her. He never said, “Lynne, you don’t realize how much I miss her.” Nothing.
“Phil came in one night and said carpets were coming out of the house and some furniture. If he waits for her to come home, won’t she be glad when her furniture and carpets leave the house?’
Wilson also discovered that her husband, who was renovating the couple’s holiday bungalow on the coast at Rhuddlan, had been seen back in Llangollen at the time of his wife’s disappearance, despite waiting until 11pm to call her missing, and had a motive: she had inherited £10,000 from one of her former lovers.
“I’ve done a little more research and I’ve also been able to ascertain from a contact at North Wales Police that she even inherited £10,000 from one of those deceased loved ones,” he added.
“There is also a chance because I learned from my police contacts that he was back in Llangollen sooner than we previously thought. He was seen in the pub at 2.30pm, shortly before Trevaline’s last reported sighting.
“It could all be circumstantial evidence in relation to Richard, as there is still no definitive evidence. There’s no crime scene, there’s no body, there’s no forensic evidence linking him to Trevaline’s murder, but I can’t rule him out.”
In the Footsteps of Killers: The Disappearance of Trevaline Evans is available on Channel 4.
