April Fabb (22 April 1955 – disappeared 8 April 1969) was a 13-year-old English schoolgirl who disappeared while cycling from her home in Metton, Norfolk, to the neighbouring village of Roughton—a distance of less than 2 miles (3.2km)—on the afternoon of 8 April 1969. She is strongly believed to have been abducted and murdered, although her body has never been found.
Fabb was last seen alive cycling along a rural road in the direction of Roughton at approximately 2:06pm; her bicycle was discovered discarded in a nearby field nine minutes later. Despite extensive police efforts, both at the time of her disappearance and in more recent decades, the case remains unsolved, and no individual has ever been charged with her abduction or murder.
The disappearance of April Fabb is widely regarded as one of the most infamous missing child cases in British history; the police investigation into her disappearance has been also described as one of the most exhaustive in the history of Norfolk Constabulary. Although officially a cold case, the investigation remains open and subject to periodic review.
Early life
April Fabb was born on 22 April 1955 in North Walsham, Norfolk. She was the youngest of three daughters born to Albert Ernest and Olive Martha (née Mallett) Fabb. Her older sisters were Pamela (b. 1942) and Diane (b. 1948). Her father was a builder, and her mother a housewife who occasionally volunteered to work in the local rectory. The family resided in Metton—then a hamlet with a population of 57—and were devoutly religious. Fabb attended Cromer Academy (then known as Cromer Secondary Modern School), where she was regarded as a studious and popular pupil.
By April 1969, Fabb was 5 ft 4 in (160cm) in height, with moderately long, blonde hair. She appeared slightly older than her 13 years, and has been described as somewhat shy and reserved. An avid music fan, Fabb had recently decorated her bedroom with several posters of her favourite rock band Amen Corner. She also enjoyed stamp collecting and sewing, and occasionally repaired or embroidered her own clothes, but expressed little interest in make-up or contemporary fashion, with her parents later reflecting their youngest daughter had "never dressed up or made herself up like some girls do".
8 April 1969
On Tuesday, 8 April 1969, Fabb's school was closed for Easter, but was scheduled to reopen the following day. As one of the scheduled lessons for the following day was needlework, she had originally intended to travel to Norwich with a friend named Susan Dixon to purchase sewing materials, only to be informed in person by Dixon's mother shortly after midday that her friend was unable to accompany her. At her mother's suggestion, Fabb then telephoned another close friend, Gillian Smith, who agreed to accompany her into Norwich that weekend. Olive Fabb would later recollect that as her daughter's original plans for the afternoon were altered, Fabb had seemed bewildered as to what she could do to occupy her time; in response, Olive suggested she deliver the birthday gifts she had recently purchased for her brother-in-law, Bernard Moy, to his house. Fabb agreed to this suggestion; she then walked upstairs into her bedroom to change out of her trousers into a woolen divided skirt and tie her hair in a bow at the back. She then collected the packet of ten cigarettes a friend of her mother had purchased for her that morning as her brother-in-law's birthday gift, plus a new handkerchief, and placed them—alongside 5½d in loose change—inside her bicycle's white saddlebag before proceeding to cycle toward her sister's house in Roughton.
Contemporary scale map depicting the cycle route between Fabb's home and the location of the discovery of her bicycle
Fabb left her home at approximately 1:40pm. She was wearing a wine-coloured skirt, a green jumper, long white socks and a pair of new, wooden-soled sandals with red straps and brass buckles. The distance between Metton and Roughton is approximately 1.7 miles (2.7km), and would have taken Fabb less than ten minutes to complete.
Approximately 200 yards from her her home, Fabb encountered two 12-year-old friends and classmates, Christine Dixon and Maureen Hueck, riding a donkey in a field alongside Harrison's Farm; she stopped to talk with the two as they walked around the field before continuing on her journey approximately ten minutes later. She was last seen alive by a tractor driver named Joseph Livingston-Brown cycling some 200 yards further along the land, close to a Y-shaped junction named Pillar Box Corner. The timing of this final sighting was approximately 2:06pm.
Disappearance
At approximately 2:15pm, two Ordnance Survey workers observed Fabb's blue-and-white BSA bicycle lying in a field. The bicycle had evidently been thrown over a four-foot bank, and the location was approximately 150 yards beyond the crossroads at Pillar Box Corner, approximately 0.5 miles (0.80km) from Fabb's home, and not alongside the most direct route between the Fabb and Moy households. Forty-five minutes later, a passing motorist named David Empson took the bicycle—which he believed had been lost or stolen—to the village police station, where officers noted the saddlebag contained an unopened packet of cigarettes, a blue handkerchief, and 5½d in loose change. With the exception of a minor dent upon the bell, Fabb's bicycle was undamaged.
Norfolk Constabulary photograph of Fabb's bicycle, as discovered in Metton following her disappearance
When Fabb had not returned home by 7pm, her mother—having initially assumed her youngest daughter had stayed at her sister's home for the remainder of the afternoon—became anxious, although her husband attempted to placate her fears by stating: "Don't worry, Bernard will bring her home when he's ready." Ninety minutes later, she travelled to her oldest daughter's home to accompany April back home, only to discover she had not arrived at her sister's house. Albert and Olive Fabb then telephoned and/or visited each of her friends' homes, only to discover she had not visited any of her friends that afternoon. When Fabb had not returned home by 10pm, her parents reported her missing. Shortly thereafter, they identified the bicycle discovered that afternoon as belonging to her.
Investigation
Norfolk Constabulary rapidly determined Fabb's disappearance was involuntary and immediately implemented an intense manhunt to locate her, with a police spokesman stating at a press conference on 9 April that police were viewing Fabb's disappearance "in a very, very serious light". The manhunt to locate Fabb was headed by Detective Chief Superintendent Reginald Lester, and saw every inhabitant of Metton, Roughton and Sustead questioned and their alibis verified. Appeals for any individual who had been sighted in the vicinity of Metton on the afternoon of 8 April to come forward and assist in police inquiries saw several individuals who had been within earshot of the location of Fabb's suspected abduction contact authorities, although none of these individuals reported having seen or heard anything suspicious.
A forensic examination of Fabb's bicycle failed to yield any fingerprints belonging to her abductor(s); the sole fingerprints recovered belonged to Fabb herself or David Empson, whom investigators eliminated as a potential suspect upon verifying his alibi as to his whereabouts at the time of Fabb's disappearance.
In the days immediately following Fabb's disappearance, every landmark and piece of terrain within a seven-mile radius of her household was also thoroughly searched by the forty police officers assigned full-time to the manhunt, search and rescue dogs, and underwater search units, with the search progress coordinated and updated from an incident room based in Cromer. The police search was assisted by hundreds of volunteers, including several RAF personnel stationed at Neatishead. By 10 April, 120 officers and volunteers had been assigned full-time to the ongoing ground search, with investigators ultimately pursuing potential leads of inquiry as far afield as Hampshire. Media appeals for information as to Fabb's whereabouts were gradually disseminated nationwide, with the lead singer of Amen Corner, Andy Fairweather Low, also issuing a personal appeal for Fabb to return home upon Radio 1, adding he would meet her in person if she would assure her family of her well-being.
Eyewitness sightings
One early police line of inquiry was to trace all vehicles in the vicinity of Metton on the date of Fabb's suspected abduction and eliminate their owners from the investigation. As two schoolboys had spent the day logging the registration numbers of all vehicles passing through Metton and Roughton in their notebooks, investigators traced and interviewed the owners of every one of the 400 logged vehicles; all were discounted as suspects although a man seen by witnesses "lying resting" across the front seats of a cream or fawn vehicle believed to be either a Ford Consul or Vauxhall Cresta close to where Fabb was last seen alive and two "rough-looking" young men seen seen driving a small, black 1958 model Morris 1000 van in the direction of Metton shortly after 2pm were never traced, despite nationwide appeals for these individuals to contact police and eliminate themselves from the police inquiry.
Another line of inquiry involved eyewitness reports of a girl of Fabb's description, wearing clothing matching she had worn at the time of her disappearance, who was observed travelling on the 3:58pm train from Cromer to North Walsham on the afternoon of 8 April. A public appeal for this girl to come forward and be eliminated from police inquiries produced two further eyewitnesses who had also seen a girl matching this description in the waiting room at North Walsham railway station at approximately 6:15pm. The girl seen at North Walsham railway station later came forward and was eliminated from police inquiries; the girl observed upon the 3:58pm train to North Walsham was never located.
Clairvoyant assistance
In the summer of 1969, a renowned clairvoyant named Gerard Croiset contacted Norfolk Constabulary to offer his assistance in locating Fabb; he later sent illustrations of landmarks and locations he had seen in visions as being crucial to locating the child. Croiset also added Fabb's abductor was local to the region, approximately 48 years old and owned a rifle. This individual also had a pet Alsatian.
At the request of investigators, in early September, Croiset flew from his home in Utrecht to Norfolk International Airport to locate the landmarks described in his visions: a church close to an ice cream parlour and what Croiset described as a "rifle shop". He was met at the airport by a senior investigator assigned to the case. The two then travelled to North Norfolk in efforts to locate the landmarks described in his visions.
Croiset remained adamant none of the towns and villages in the immediate vicinity of Fabb's disappearance had any association with her disappearance; however, when he and a senior detective travelled to the nearby market town of Aylsham, Croiset led the detective to a gunsmiths closely resembling that within the illustrations he had provided to investigators before remarking: "This is the place I saw in my vision. The man who took April away uses the rifle shop."
Cold case
Despite an extensive and exhaustive contemporary police investigation, which saw over 1,970 witness statements taken, numerous persons of interest questioned and eliminated as suspects and a substantial reward offered for information leading to Fabb's safe return, all leads of inquiry failed to bear fruit, and Fabb's abduction remained unsolved. By the early 1970s, the investigation had largely became cold, although subject to periodic review.
Later events and developments
Further searches for Fabb, including the use of thermal imaging cameras in 1997 and the excavation of a well in 2010, failed to produce any fresh leads.
At the time of the disappearance of Genette Tate in August 1978, Norfolk Constabulary pointed out to Devon and Cornwall Police that there were strong similarities with the Fabb case. Both cases are unsolved and no link between the two has ever been proven.
Serial child murderer Robert Black was repeatedly questioned over the two disappearances following his arrest in 1990; however, although Black—who lived in London at the time of Fabb's disappearance and earned a living via various forms of casual work—was due to be formally charged with Tate's abduction at the time of his death in January 2016, he is not considered a strong suspect in Fabb's disappearance.
"Olive was a remarkable woman. She had forty-four years of agony, and the sadness is... she died not knowing. But, she bore it with great courage, dignity and stoicism, and clung on to faint hope."
—Maurice Morson, former Head of Norfolk Constabulary Criminal Investigation Department, reflecting upon Olive Fabb's lifelong hope to discover her daughter's fate and provide her with a Christian burial. 24 April 2013.
Aftermath
Albert Fabb died of natural causes in March 1998 at age 81. Olive Fabb died at the Pine Heath Nursing Home in High Kelling, Norfolk, on 19 April 2013 at age 93. Both are buried together in St. Andrew's churchyard in Metton at the base of an arched granite headstone erected in honour and memory of their youngest daughter inscribed with the words 'A child who disappeared from this parish in April 1969 of whom nothing has since been heard'. On each anniversary of Fabb's disappearance, the headstone is adorned with daffodils.
Four days after their mother's death, Fabb's surviving sisters, Pamela and Diane, issued a statement reflecting upon the impact of their younger sister's disappearance, the pain of the uncertainty as to her fate and whereabouts, and their parents' stoic efforts to continue to lead a normal life despite the hardships. This statement read in part: "Mum and dad's world stopped that beautiful spring day in April 1969, but, for our sake, they tried to lead a normal life. Mum was the stronger one—an amazing woman. I would have lost my mind, but she never lost her Christian faith, which helped her through."
April Fabb has never been located, and although the actual motive for her disappearance remains unknown, many past and present investigators assigned to the case remain convinced Fabb was abducted by an individual or individuals with a sexual motive, with one investigator remarking in 2005 the perpetrator was either a local whom police "never really had enough in our sights" or an individual driving through Metton who had abducted Fabb in a crime of opportunity. Although a cold case, the investigation into her disappearance remains open and is subject to periodic review.
Media
Literature
Morson, Maurice (2012) [1995]. The Lost Years: The Story of April Fabb. Essex: Redbridge Books. ISBN978-0-952-01927-5.
Swinney, Chris (2015). Robert Black: the True Story of a Child Rapist and Serial Killer. Canada: R. J. Parker Publishing Inc. pp.107–111. ISBN978-1-517-62415-6.
Television
Enigma: The Girl Who Wouldn't Talk to Strangers. Presented by journalist and author Ludovic Kennedy, this 30-minute documentary was first broadcast on 16 September 1981.
Missing Children: Lorraine Kelly Investigates S01E03. Directed by Paul Freeman and hosted by Lorraine Kelly, this 45-minute episode was first broadcast on 26 August 2009.
Into Thin Air (2018). Directed by Robert John and Dawn Finnerty and directly inspired by the disappearance of April Fabb, Into Thin Air premiered at Sheringham Little Theatre on 5 October 2018.
↑Fabb's brother-in-law's birthday had been on 6 April. She had originally purchased sweets as his birthday gift, which she had recently eaten. As Fabb did not smoke, she had asked a family friend to purchase the cigarettes as an alternate present to give him that morning.
↑A handful of the entries within these notebooks were inaccurate or illegible. As such, police were unable to trace a small number of the registration numbers entered within the schoolboys' notebooks.
↑Neither of these two vehicles had been logged in the schoolboys' notebooks.
Apostolides, Zoë (2022). End of Innocence: The Untold Stories Behind the Victims of Child Killer Robert Black. Suffolk: Gemini Books Group. ISBN978-1-914-45145-4.
Bauchman, Rosemary (1991). Mysteries and Marvels: Incredible Happenings from Near and Far. Nova Scotia: Lancelot Press. ISBN978-0-889-99490-4.
Church, Robert (1996). Well Done, Boys: the Life and Crimes of Robert Black. London: Constable & Company Ltd. ISBN978-0-094-74150-8.
Collins, James J. (1999). Law Enforcement Policies and Practices Regarding Missing Children and Homeless Youth. United States: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. ISBN978-0-788-18639-4.
Fido, Martin (2001). A History of British Serial Killing: How Britain's Most Famous Serial Killers Were Identified, Caught and Convicted. London: Welbeck Publishing Group. ISBN978-1-842-22204-1.
Greene, Dr. Karen Shalev; Alys, Llian (2016). Missing Persons: A Handbook of Research. London: Routledge. ISBN978-1-409-46802-8.
Marriner, Brian (1994). "Murderer of Childhood". True Crime Detective Monthly (August 1994ed.). Magazine Design & Publishing Ltd. pp.10–14. ISSN0261-264X.
Murphy, Paul (2011). Guide for Implementing or Enhancing an Endangered Missing Advisory (EMA). Washington: U. S. Department of Justice. ISBN978-1-437-98383-8.
Odell, Robin; Donnelley, Paul (2016). The Mammoth Book of More Bizarre Crimes. London: Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN978-1-472-11804-2.
Pender, Patrick (1993). "Robert Black: Evil Child Killer Of Susan Maxwell, Caroline Hogg and Sarah Harper". Real-Life Crimes. Vol.108. Eaglemoss Publications Ltd. ISBN978-1-858-75042-2.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
Pettem, Silvia (2017). The Long Term Missing: Hope and Help for Families. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN978-1-442-25680-4.
Sanders, John (2016). "Death of a Serial Killer". True Detective Monthly (April 2016ed.). Magazine Design & Publishing Ltd. pp.14–15. ISSN0041-350X.
Sprague, Donald F. (2013). Investigating Missing Children Cases: A Guide for First Responders and Investigators. New York: Taylor & LFrancis Group. ISBN978-1-439-86063-2.
Wyre, Ray; Tate, Timothy; Richardson, Charmaine (2018). The Murder of Childhood: Inside the Mind of One of Britain's Most Notorious Child Murderers. Waterside Press. ISBN978-1-909-97662-7.
External links
Contemporary news article pertaining to the disappearance of April Fabb
