Patsy Morris

discretion is advised. On Monday, the sixteenth of June nineteen eighty, the Morris family, who lived at Signa Avenue in Felton, West London, were becoming worried. George and Marjorie Morris had been waiting for their fourteen year old daughter, Patsy to return home after school. However, she was late, and this was not usual for her. Patsy attended school at Felt and Comprehensive and lived at home with her mom, dad,

sister and two brothers. She was just an normal teenage girl and staying away from home without letting anyone know was not something that she did. It didn't take long for her parents to become so worried that they contacted police to try and locate her. Police became involved given Patsy's age and the fact that she couldn't be found,

and they began a search of the local area. They used mounted police officers and Special Patrol Group members to help them look around the area of Signa Avenue where the Morrises lived. It was hoped that Patsy would be recovered quickly after the search and that whatever had happened had just been a misunderstanding or Patsy was just with a friend. However, when she still could not be located that evening and into the next day, concerns began to grow.

Police officers continued to search into Wednesday, the eighteenth of June, and it was on that evening that a police dog handler was searching an area of Hounslow Heath that they discovered something in what has been described as a bush or a copse next to our path. The dog handler came across a body lying face down. The body was that of Patsy Morris. The discovery that Patsy was dead was devastating for everyone involved, and it meant that the

worst had so tragically come true. Her body had been found around a quarter of a mile from her home on Signa Avenue. All of the evidence suggested that Patsy's death was not an accident and it was the result of foul play. They discovered that she had been strangled with a ligature, her body was fully clothed when it was found, and there had not been any sexual assault. The fact that her murder had taken place was horrendous for the local community and of course must have been

utterly devastating to Patsy's family. How had this happened to Patsy, who had done it, and why? It was hoped, given that her body had been recovered from next to a popular path on the heath, that someone would have seen something on that Monday when Patsy had gone missing. Police began asking local people and those that live close to the area to come forward with any information that they

might have. They were very interested in anyone who had seen Patsy between Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon to come forward with any information. Police also began to warm parents to not allow their children to walk across the heath alone, given that whoever had committed this murder was still out there and at that point they were working with limited information. Patsy's family stated that They always told her not to cross the heath alone, and this was something they continually

reminded her of. The fact that she may have crossed it on the day that she disappeared was a large part of the puzzle for the police. They began to investigate this element of Patsy's day to see why she'd been walking across the heath and when this had happened. They were working under a theory that perhaps Patsy had been playing truant from school that day. They were therefore very interested in any other children who may have been playing truant that day to come forward to say if

they'd also seen Patsy. They spoke to her friends to find out where she usually went if she didn't attend school. Patsy's family provided an explanation for why she had left school that day. A family friend, Kate Atwood, explained, Patsy didn't take an overcoat to school on Monday. She got soaking wet. I should imagine she came home at lunchtime to get her coat, but found she left her key indoors. She didn't realize that I was at home and she

could have changed her clothes at my house. She must have gone over the heath the Cavalry barracks to get a key from her parents. Her mother also works in the kitchens there. She broke the cardinal rule of the family. We always tell our children always go across the heath in pairs. This theory as to why Patsy had left school that day made sense given that the location where she was found was part way between her home and the Cavalry barracks, where her father worked as an army

chef and her mother worked in the kitchens. If this had been what happened, and someone had approached Patsy while she was crossing the heath, how had she not been found During the initial search, police were interested in anyone that was seen in the area around the time that Patsy would have been crossing. One line of inquiry that they were looking into was the nearby golf club adjacent to the heath. It was believed that someone who had been playing golf that day might have seen something that

could help. They also wanted to establish who exactly was on there, given that they needed to narrow down any suspects. Detective Superintendent John George from Scotland Yard said, we have established that nineteen people paid green fees to play on the course and the day Patsy was killed, but we

have only been able to trace five of them. Of course, they may have seen nothing, but we believe the child died within sight of the golf course, and we must know if any player Saara, either alone or with anyone else who could have been the killer. A photo fit was created of one of the golfers that they wanted to speak to. This man was thought to be a novice golfer and believed to live locally. He was known

to carry worn clubs and an old bag. He was described as between thirty three and forty years old, of a medium build, with brown, slightly graying hair and a thin mustache. He had a chubby face and a tanned complexion. He was apparently scruffy in appearance and wore a blue Fred Perry T shirt. The police acknowledged that none of these people may have had anything to do with the murder,

but they needed to speak to them about it. They were looking to speak to anyone that they believed might have seen anyone that day, and by August nineteen eighty they had reportedly spoken to around twelve thousand people. And taken about seven hundred statements. Police explained they were actually very interested in speaking to five specific people who had been seen in the local area. One of them was

the novice golfer. Another man that they wanted to track down was a passenger on the one one six bus who had boarded it outside the Hunsar pub. This man was soaking wet and looked extremely disheveled. This may not have been surprising on that day given the downpour of rain that occurred, but he caught attention as he had been lent money for the journey from the driver. He traveled from Hounslow to Stains, a town around eight miles away. He was described as around thirty five years old and

five feet ten inches tall. He had an average build, greasy hair which was cut sharp and comb back. He was weather beaten and in need of a shave, with an open white shirt, dark suit and black shoes. They also wanted to trace the driver of a van that had been seen parked on Patsy's street in Signa Avenue on the day that Patsy went missing. This van was a royal blue color, either a Marina or an escort. He was fairly clean, with two or three lines of

writing on the driver's door. The driver was between thirty five and forty and had been seen reading newspapers and using a telephone radio handset. Another lead that police wanted to follow up with was reports of two children riding around on bicycles around that time, and they hoped that

they too may have seen something of interest. They were trying to gain as much information as they could from the local community, but unfortunately it was as though nobody had seen anything that day, and they were still none the wiser about what had actually happened. During the following months, the police continued to track down as many leads as they could and speak to as many people as they could.

By May nineteen eighty one, Patsy's death was still unsolved, and at the inquest, West London Coroner Dr John Burton ruled that she had been killed unlawfully. This was something that police and her family already had a stable, but this official ruling ensured that this was still indeed a murder investigation. The coroner stated, I hope the time will come when a person may be charged with her death.

Patsy's mum, Marjorie, stated that she believed the police were doing all they could to try and catch Patsy's killer and hopes that someone would come forward with information. She said, I would ask him to give himself up. It's ten months now and it doesn't get any easier for us. It has been a trying time. The police have certainly done everything they can and put some hours into it.

I praise them for it. Despite doing everything they could, leeds began to dry up in the case, and the hope of tracking down her killer was becoming all the more remote given the time that was passing and the lack of evidence. It appeared that this is the way Patsy's case stayed for decades until two thousand and eight, when a couple of things occurred to bring the case back into the headlines once more. One was that a man walked into a police station in Norfolk and confessed

to killing Patsy in nineteen eighty. The police took this confession seriously to begin with and arrested the man. He would eventually be released after they found out that he was suffering from a mental health condition and that this confession was a false one. This must have been a blow after they finally believed that they had a solid

lead in the case after all these years. Also in two thousand and eight, Scotland Yard began reviewing new evidence in the case after they received information that Levi Bellfield had confessed to a cellmate to killing Patsy when he was just twelve years old. Levi Bellfield is a serial killer who has been charged with the murders of three women in Marsha MacDonald, Amiie de Lagrange and Millie Dowler,

and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy. In nineteen eighty, Bellfield was twelve years old, and it was the following year that he was charged with his first conviction for burglary. Bellfield attended the same school as Patsy. Felt mcomprehensive, however, it's known that he attended there after Patsy had already died. He did live in the area, though, and they found out from friends that the pair of them were friends, or at least knew one another. This therefore may not

have been above the realms of possibility. This came as a surprise to Patsy's family in two thousand and eight, as they were not aware that they knew one another. Patsy's sister Nicholas spoke to the press saying we did not know him. It was a shock when we found out they knew each other. Friends told us about it. It's horrendous the crimes he has committed and the pain is suffering he's put on other families. We understand what they have gone through. People say it heals over time,

but it never does. Patsy's dad, George, also told of an odd thing that occurred shortly after Patsy died, which, in hindsight with this new information, seemed strange. He stated that he had received a phone call from a teenage boy with a death threat. They didn't know who this teenage boy was or how it was connected to the murder, and following a full investigation of these claims about Bellfield, they could find no evidence that he had anything to

do with the murder. This was an interesting lead and one that cannot be ruled out. However, it does not mean that it's a solid lead. Bellfield was not the only one that was looked into, and another serial killer, Peter Tobin, was looked into also as potentially another suspect. Tobin has been looked into for many crimes across the country, as part of Operation Anna, and Patsy's was certainly not

the only one that they looked into in relation to him. Again, like Bellfield, no evidence was found to link him to the murder. Since then, Patsy's murder has remained unsolved, and it is still that way today. It has now been forty four years since it took place, and despite extensive inquiries and investigation, no other information has been released about it.

It's definitely a case that needs more attention, and while the link to Bellfield did get it more into their headlines, it was not definitive and more people still need to come forward to get this solved. The Met Police has confirmed that there's no longer an active investigation going on in Patsy's murder. However, they will always welcome tips. If you know anything about Patsy's murder in nineteen eighty, you can contact one oh one or crime Stoppers or eight

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