Day 4 -James Harmon

This episode is about a missing person and so does not contain any descriptions of violence, but listen to discretion is advised. On Saturday, January the twenty fourth, nineteen ninety eight, thirty year old James Harmon, or Jimmy as he liked to be called, was at his girlfriend's house in Romford, a town in East London. Jimmy lived on Maxie Road in Dagenham, which was around four miles from the town

of Romford, where his girlfriend lived. Jimmy was originally from Belfast, however was now living and working in the London area. His day job was working as a mechanic and fitter, while at night he worked a second job as a doorman at the Dagenham's robin Hood Pub in Longbridge Road, as well as other East London bars and clubs. On that Saturday afternoon, at around three pm, it's known that Jimmy got a phone call on his mobile phone. This

wasn't long after arriving at his girlfriend's house. After he got off the phone call, he told his girlfriend that he was going to meet a friend called Andy in the area of Raynham. Raynham is around six miles away from Romford. Jimmy said that he intended on returning by around eight pm that evening. This wasn't out of the ordinary for Jimmy, and he set off in his silver Mercedes one ninety e saloon car. Hours passed and the eight pm curfew that Jimmy had given himself came and went.

He didn't return to his girlfriend's house, and it soon became apparent that nobody knew where he was. Those that were close to Jimmy were immediately quite worried about his sudden disappearance, and they knew that there was something out of character for him. Jimmy's girlfriend rang his mum, Jean, to let her know that he hadn't returned, and they both agreed to get police involved. At this point, a

missing person investigation was launched. The investigation was based on the small piece of information that they had about his disappearance, the fact that Jimmy had been to visit a friend in Raynham. While investigating and searching the area, the police made a discovery which was certainly of interest. Jimmy's car with the registration A eight seven to two GBA, was found abandoned close to the King George Hospital in the

area of good Mays. Good Maze is an area which is around three miles from Romford, where Jimmy's girlfriend lived, and around six point five miles from Raynham, where Jimmy had said he was meeting his friend Andy. Jimmy's car was identified quickly given that it was distinctive, it had a lowered suspension and a loud music system. Upon investigation of the car, police came to the conclusion that it had probably been there since January the twenty fourth, when

Jimmy had gone missing. This appears to have come from witness statements from people who had seen the car park there since around that time. Why it was located there, however, was unclear, and so was why Jimmy may have been in that particular area after telling his girlfriend he was going to Raynham. Despite finding the car, there was no sign of Jimmy and police were even more concerned about

his whereabouts, knowing that he now had no transport. The scene, while it didn't give any indication that anything was wrong, also did not seem right either, and police issued a description of Jimmy to the public to try and drum up some attention for his missing person case. Jimmy was described as white, five foot seven inches and stocky with sharp crops brown hair. He was last seen wearing a

blue Budweiser T shirt, tracksuit, bottoms and trainers. An extensive investigation was carried out by police into his disappearance and many avenues were looked into. One of these lines of inquiry was the fact that they believed that Jimmy was part of what was described as a criminal fraternity in

East London. Police stated that through investigation they knew that he took part in criminal activity and this may have been due to his job as a dorman at several different clubs and bars in East London and this may have been how he got involved. This line of inquiry also led police to believe that there was foul play involved in Jimmy's disappearance, and that as a result, Jimmy was murdered shortly after he vanished. Just ten months after he disappeared, the case was passed on to the Homicide

and Serious Crime Command. Years began to pass, and in two thousand and one it was reported that police were again doing another search to try and find Jimmy. Detective Chief Inspector Michael O'Keeffe from the Serious Crime Group said, James Harmon has been missing for over three and a half years and in this time nobody has seen or heard from him. He was a man with a verve for life and was extremely fun of his children and family.

It's vital that we hear from anyone who may have information on what may have happened to James, so that we can relieve his family of the anguish that they suffered during his absence. In two thousand and three, appeals were again made about Jimmy's disappearance, this time led by

Jimmy's mum, Jean. She had been completely heartbroken by the disappearance of her eldest son, who she had been very close to after moving from Belfast to Manchester with her family in the nineteen seventies after the death of Jimmy's father, He had taken over the role as a father figure and was a responsible person. He had then moved to Essex to be closer to his girlfriend. Jane. Explained that she had found out from her that he had not returned when he said he was going to, and Jean

had been immediately worried. In two thousand and three, along with the Missing Person's Helpline, they launched an appeal with the supermarket Iceland and to put Jimmy's face on every two liter carton of milk. She said it was so unlike James to just go missing and not get in contact with anyone. I've waited for five years just for a little snippet of information, and I'm hoping this will prick someone's conscience and they will tell me something about him.

My son was a kickboxing champion and he was a strong man. If someone wanted to harm him, it would have taken more than one person to do it. James was a very jolly person and had no reason to leave out of the blue like that. It's totally out of character because he would know we would all be very worried about him. Gene also made a heartbreaking confession that she was trying to sell her gold wedding band

to raise money for a reward. This is such a tragic part of this case and shows how love Jimmy was and how desperate his mum was for answers. Despite these appeals from police and Jimmy's family, the case seemed to go called for another few years before there was any meaningful progress being reported on. In July of two thousand eight, it was reported that a forty five year old who lived in Dagenham was arrested for perverting the course of justice and for being involved in Jimmy's disappearance.

The suspect was taken into custody but was later bailed. It's unclear the grounds on which this suspect was arrested, However, this was clearly in some way connected to leeds that they had found in their investigation. After this development, police appealed once again for anyone with information to come forward. Five years later, in two thousand thirteen, another development was reported.

Police announced that they were offering a twenty thousand pound reward for any information which led to the identification, arrest and prosecution of those responsible for Jimmy's murder. Detective Chief Inspector Neil Baldock said Jimmy was well known as a doorman at a number of East London clubs and pubs. I know he was involved in criminal activity in East London and I believe the key to this investigation is likely to come from within that criminal fraternity or their associates.

In the intervening years, loyalties and allegiances may have changed, and I would appeal to anyone with new information to come forward and speak to us. It was hoped with the passage of time, someone may now feel more comfortable coming forward and telling the police what they knew, especially now with the new reward. If it was someone from a criminal group, they may now be leading a very different life than before and may be able to help.

This must have been welcome news for Jimmy's family and friends, and especially his mum Jean, who had been appealing for information about her son for years at that point. In twenty fourteen, Jean spoke to the BBC about her son and explained that she had spent her widow's pension and had left herself penniless looking for Jimmy. She explained that she had got her hopes up several times when people rang up with tips or possible sightings, but that she

had had her hopes cruelly dashed. She said some people rang up about four to six months ago to say they thought they'd seen him, but when the police checked into it, it wasn't him. You can't go forward. All you can do is keep looking back to see if there's anything that you've missed. Since then, however, there has been little reported about James Jimmy Harmon's disappearance, and it has been a decade since the last reporting that I

could find. It's tragic that it's been twenty six years since Jimmy's disappearance and his family and friends have no answers as to what happened to him. Someone out there knows what happened to Jimmy, who was involved, and where he is, and that person or people need to come forward with what they know. Jimmy deserves justice and he

needs to be found. If you know anything about his disappearance, please contact Crimestoppers on eight hundred five five five one one one, or visit Missing People using the link in the show notes to report information. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Listening in a few days to day five, where we will cover another missing or unidentified person case. If you'd like to support the podcast further, then you can on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls to get

extra bonus episodes every month. You can also get access to new episodes early in ad free. You can use the link in the show notes to visit Patreon and see what we offer. You can also support us by reviewing the podcast wherever you listen, including Spotify, and also just share the episodes. You can subscribe on YouTube and follow us on social media as our ways. I'm Caprice and this has been on scene the