Family of suspected Fred West victim no closer to knowing her fate 50 years on - despite hopes of a recent discovery
The family of a suspected Fred West victim are no closer to finding out what happened to the schoolgirl nearly 50 years after she disappeared.
Mary Bastholm, 15, vanished in 1968 as she was making her way to catch a bus to see her then-boyfriend Tim Merrett.
The teen had worked at the Pop-In Cafe, which was later renamed the Clean Plate, where serial killer West was a regular.
Hopes had been raised in 2021 of finding Mary's remains when a TV crew filming a documentary - fronted by Trevor McDonald - found some blue material at the cafe in Gloucester.
It sparked police to carry out excavation work in the basement, lasting nearly a week and costing at least £55,000.
But no trace of her was ever found with Gloucestershire police believing 'evidence' presented to them was detritus from a pipe accidentally drilled through by the show's producers.
Speaking after the launch of the Fred and Rose West: A British Horror Story on Netflix, one local said: 'The issue of the Clean Plate cafe is an ongoing mystery.
'Trevor McDonald's team did not break any new ground in getting closer to Mary but what happened created more questions than answers.
'How do you backfill a void behind a basement wall, unless there is a tunnel on the other side of it?
'Fred is obviously not around so potentially is someone else managing things on his behalf?
'This leads to further suspicions there are others walking the streets to this day - making sure trail of breadcrumbs is swept up behind them.
'It is a strange one, but obviously everyone's thoughts are with Mary's family. It is so tragic and everyone in the town just hopes they get the answers to what happened to her.'
Gloucestershire Police was forced to defend its actions following the dig after no trace of Mary was found.
It came as extraordinary details emerged that the documentary crew, with the blessing of her family and the cafe, had drilled into the floor themselves and then put an endoscope camera down the hole.
They believed they captured images of blue material matching the coat the girl had been wearing when she went missing and contacted the police.
Speaking at the time, then Assistant Chief Constable Craig Holden said he thought the pictures was actually wreckage from a pipe they had drilled through that simply appeared blue through the imaging technology.
'When we were called by the production company it was because they had seen an image of what appeared to be blue material.
'When our senior investigating officer and our experts looked at the footage from the endoscope that had been deployed by the TV production company it was clear that there was imagery of something that was blue and it couldn't be identified as to what that was.
'Under excavation we found a pipe that wasn't blue and we believe that the drilling may have gone through that pipe and created some sort of detritus or debris which is what the endoscope picked up.
'When we looked we didn't see anything blue so what we believe is that the imagery has given the impression of something blue.'
Speaking at the time, Gloucestershire Police said of the search that it was examining six areas of interest or 'anomalies' in the cellar area.
A spokesperson added: 'The anomalies were identified by a team of expert forensic archaeologists and anthropologists ahead of the excavation work, with the experts able to determine that the remaining areas of the cellar had been undisturbed since prior to 1968, when Mary Bastholm disappeared.
'Each area was carefully examined by the forensics team with support from officers from the Constabulary.
'The team worked each day, everything that was dug up was analysed on site and all activity was meticulously logged and photographed.
'Mary's family have been updated and is continuing to receive support from family liaison officers.'
In their most recent statement, Mary's family's said: 'We are aware of the ongoing developments around Mary's disappearance and are being kept up to date and supported by Gloucestershire Police Family Liaison Officers.
'At this time please may we ask for privacy so we can grieve for Mary.'
The cafe was handed back to its owners once reparation work is completed.
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