Linda Cook

is advised. Red Car is a seaside town located on the Yorkshire coast, around seven miles away from Middlesbrough. Like many of the UK's seaside resorts, red Car grew in popularity during the Victorian era as tourists flock to the areas to relax and to heal many chronic illnesses that

it was believed that the sea air could fix. Entertainment pavilions and large hotels with ballrooms were built to support the growth in popularity, and when the Victorian era ended, red Car and the area of Teaside in general became known for the production of steel. This dominated the post war era. By nineteen sixty three, Red Car was firmly in this era, and it was a working class town, with many people working within the steel industry or within

Red Car itself. Many young couples were also enjoying many of the freedoms at the early sixties afforded them. Twenty three year old Linda Margaret Koke and twenty five year old Clark Michael Cook or Michael as he seemed to prefer, were one such couple. By nineteen sixty three, they had been married for around three years and Linda was working as a receptionist for around three different doctors in Red Car.

Those that knew Linda knew her to be a fun, loving and confident person who clearly had a good reputation in the job role that she had. Her and Michael were leasing a flat from Linda's employer above the doctor's surgery where she worked on Kirkleapham Lane. While Linda's life had been going the way that she'd planned before this point, by nineteen sixty three, it was clear that there were

some growing issues with her marriage to Michael. Michael would later explain that by the end of August nineteen sixty three, they had hit a troubled patch it had got to the point where they decided to move out of the flat that they were leasing together. It had become so serious that Linda had decided to resign from her job and moved to Leeds to live with her father. Michael had moved to another flat on Queen Street in the meantime. He would later state that during that time they'd continue

to speak and be on relatively amicable terms. On Saturday, the twenty first of September, Linda and Michael had agreed to meet at the flat where they lived together. They had some belongings that they needed to sort out and move out of the flat, and so they did that. Afterwards, Michael stated that they had a coffee together. After they'd finished coffee, Michael said that Linda left at around twelve thirty pm and he watched her walk down the high street and then go inside a shop for Michael. He

said there was nothing unusual about this interaction. Michael was not the last person to see Linda that day, though, and at around two thirty pm. Around two hours later, Linda was spotted leaving a hotel in Red car After leaving the hotel, she went into a nearby shop and

bought some corn beef. Since splitting from Michael around six weeks earlier, Linda had become friends with another man, who later explained she was staying in his flat with him from Friday, the twentieth of September and was planning on staying with him until the Monday, when she left for Leeds. This man stated that he saw Linda at the flat until around eight pm on that Saturday, when she told him she needed to leave and go to the doctor's office because she had some business that she needed to

finish up. He explained that he also left the flat at about eight thirty pm and went out for some drinks with friends. He said he returned back to the flat at around ten forty five pm. Linda was not there when he returned. Green Lane is located in Mask, a coastal village around three miles from red Car. The lane runs alongside the Middlesbrough to Saltburn Railway and has been known as a lane which court in couples often

visit together due to to its semi rural location. At around seven am on Sunday, the twenty second of September, a milk delivery driver was on his rounds in his milk wagon and was heading down Green Lane. As the driver continued on, he explained he saw something on the grass verge. As he approached, she realized it was a woman's body lay prone on the floor. He later stated it was on the side with the hand propped up against the railings. The long grass nearby was undisturbed and

her clothes were neatly arranged. The woman was wearing a pink woolen two piece suit with a tight fitting skirt and black heels. She looked from a distance as though she'd been undisturbed, and from the descriptions that I can find, it didn't look like a violent incident had occurred before her death. This discovery was alarming and was of course reported in immediately to the police. An identification was quickly made.

The woman was Linda Margaret Cook. A post martin was conducted by Professor Cyril John Paulson, a professor's Forensic Medicine at Leeds University, and he established that her cause of death was asphyxia due to throttling and an obstruction in the throat. While the scene did not look violent, it was certainly a murder. Linda had been strangled, but with manual strangulation, not with a ligature. There were also no

signs of violence or sexual assault. Police were extremely interested in finding out where Linda had been before her body had been discovered around three miles away, what had happened, and who had Linda been with before this point. They were also aware that the lane was often used by courting couples and was within sight of the railway route between Saltburn and Middlesbrough. This informed the first appeals that

police made to the public about Linda's murder. Detective Superintendent William Tennett, who was in charge of the investigation, explained that any courting couples who may have visited Green Lane that night or early morning could come forward in strictest confidence. They also wanted to know if anyone was on the train on Saturday night to come forward if they saw

anything unusual in the lane while they passed by. Police explained that the trains sometimes stopped by the spot where Linda's body was eventually found, and they passed by every thirty minutes or so. There was even a theory put forward that it could have been possible for the killer and Linda to have exited the train when it stopped at this location. However, I'm unsure how far this theory was investigation or if it was based in evidence. The

evidence that police did have, however, was not much. Linda's handbag appeared to have been found at the scene, and police found a diary inside which contained the names of multiple people. These names were certainly a line of inquiry for police, who tried to trace each one. There was trace evidence which was examined by doctor Ian Barclay, director of the Home Office Forensic Science Lab at Harrogate. He found traces of carpet fibers that had been found on

Linda's sheepskin jacket. These fibers were examined with the technology available in nineteen sixty three. However, they were unable to identify their source. While they could not be identified, the fact that carpet fibers were found on her coat indicated that she had been somewhere where her coat had been touching the ground or even a car mat fiber. This also gave rise to the hypothesis that Linda could have traveled to the location in it car and this car

could have been stolen. This line of inquiry didn't go too far, though, as there hadn't been any cars reported stolen in the local area during the time that Linda was murdered. Police also seemed to draw a blank on Linda's timeline before she was murdered. There were several documented sightings of Linda that day, by her husband who saw her at lunchtime, the witness who saw her leaving a red car hotel at two thirty pm, and then by John Alexander Selby, whom Linda was staying with before leaving

for her father's house in Leeds. During a later inquiry until Linda's death, Selby was asked about his movements that night and when he last saw Linda. Here is where there's a discrepancy in the initial reporting of Linda's movements by the press and the more recent reporting. During reporting at the time, Selby said Linda combed her hair and did her face and left the flat at three point fifteen pm, not eight pm, which has been reported in other places. He did confirm that he left the flat

at eight thirty pm in all of the reporting. Selby said in this article, I went out at about eight thirty pm and met some friends for a drink. I returned to the flat at about ten forty five pm. The coroner, mister B. Wilkinson, replied, you were expecting her back at the flat. Were you not surprised or worried when she didn't turn up? Selby replied, I thought she may have gone across to her mother's or that her

father may have tried to bring about reconciliation. The fact that Selby mentioned that Linda may have been reconciling with her father gave a hint of something more going on at the time that has not been indicated by other reporting. This statement could mean that her father was trying to bring a boat reconciliation between Linda and her husband. It could also mean Linda and her father had fallen out. This is less likely, but the fact that there is

ambiguity here certainly doesn't help. It's a tantalizing suggestion which is not elaborated on in any of the articles that I can find, and I have read nothing about her father seeing her that evening in any of the reporting. Police were unable to find out where Linda was for most of the day after two thirty pm, when she

was spotted by a witness. Aside from the evidence given by Selby, there is no indication that she was with anyone else that we haven't heard of, and the frustrating part is there is little information reported on as to whether she did go to the doctor's office as she told Selby, and if she did, when did she leave. This could have also been an important lead, given that this would have narrowed down her timeline. It was evident that local police were frustrated by the lack of cooperation

from the local community. Detective Superintendent William Tennant said at the time has come to my notice that persons have been heard boasting they know something but don't want to become involved. He explained he believed local people were withholding information from the investigation, which could be crucial. During the early days of the investigation, much was made of the fact that a man was helping them with their investigation

of his own volition and was being cooperative. There is not much reported about who this man was, however, and no charges were ever brought against them, whoever they were. The investigation hit many a brick wall along the way, with little evidence as to where Linda was during that Saturday evening and with little physical evidence to examine. As a result, Scotland Yard were asked to become involved in the investigation and detectives from London came to support with enquiries.

It reported that in three months of the investigation, four thousand people were questioned and around two thousand statements were taken from people in relation to the case, but despite this, it did not appear they got any closer to finding out the truth of what happened to Linda Cock On the twenty first of September nineteen sixty three, months and years began to pass with little information being provided about the case, and unfortunately, now in twenty twenty five, this

is how Linda's case remains. The most recent article I can find comes from twenty fourteen from Teeside Live, which basically states very similar facts which were reported during the nineteen sixty articles. There does not seem to be much more progress made on the investigation since it began. This begs the question is there any evidence surviving where DNA

technology be used to find out more. This may be the only route at this point that the case may be solved, as witnesses from the time may be few and far between as the time ticks on. This is one of those cases where it's difficult to even speculate as there are so few details. It's clear that Linda met with someone that night, either someone she knew or someone who met her that evening, and that this meeting

went awry. This person has been living amongst the public since then, undetected, and this is always such a scary thought. If you know anything about the murder of Linda Cook in nineteen sixty three in Red Car, then please contact police on one oh one. Thank you for listening to today's episode. 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

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