Zoe Simpson

may find distressing, so listener discretion is advised. Longside is an inner city area of Manchester, around three miles south of the city center. It's long been known as a very diverse area. However, it has been played for many years with crime and violence. This is due to the fact that the area of Moss's Side is located close by, and for many years in the nineteen nineties, gang violence was prevalent, with many shootings taking place. Today it is

less known for violence. However, when Zoe Simpson and her boyfriend Carl moved Alongside in nineteen ninety three, they would have been well aware of the situation unfolding in nearby Moss Side. Zoe was originally from Macclesfield, a market town in Cheshire around sixteen miles south of the city center of Manchester. She had grown up in a middle class home with her mum, Carol and her dad Ian. Those that knew Zoe when she was growing up said that she was a happy and bubbly person who got on

well with others. Her mum, Carol later said that as she was growing up, she had aspirations to go into the child care career and after finishing her gcsees this is what she was aiming to do. Her mum explained that when Zoe turned sixteen, she met her boyfriend Karl, and around a year later she discovered she was pregnant with her daughter. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, Zoe and car were evicted from where they were living and moved into a caravan, which was located in a

lay by. Carol explained her father and I were opposed to the relationship, and the longer it went on, the less Zoe came to see us. About a year later, she gave birth to a daughter and moved with her boyfriend to a house in Longsite, bought with money inherited from her father's will after he died in nineteen ninety three. This was how Zoe moved to Newbank Road in Longside

in that year, and the family lived there together. Neighbors would later say that they were a quiet family who they didn't hear much from, and it seemed that they were just living their lives and getting on with it. In early nine nineteen ninety six, Zoe gave birth to her son, and it was at this point that those that knew Zoe felt like something had changed. Her mum stated Zoe had a baby's son in March nineteen ninety six, but by then she had broken off contact with me.

Those that knew her explain that after the birth of her son, Zoe began struggling with postnatal depression and was put on medication for this. As a result, it would seem that Zoe was struggling. However, she loved her children very much and was known to dote on them. At the end of October nineteen ninety six, Zoe was living with Karl and her two children in Longsight. However, it

was that month that something very unusual happened. Karl rang up Greater Manchester Police and told them that Zoe had not returned home and that she was missing. This was alarming given that Zoe had left behind her six year old daughter an eight month old son. When police gained more information about her disappearance, they found that Zoe had last been seen on October the twenty sixth, and that

she had not contacted anyone or been seen since. They also learned some other information about Zoe that she was currently on medication for post natal depression that she had been suffering from since her son's birth, and this detail by itself made her a honorable missing person. They also learned that Zoe had gone missing a month earlier, in September nineteen ninety six, but that she had returned around twenty four hours after she disappeared. This was crucial information

and provided police with important background. It did not help the investigators, though, find out where Zoe might have gone after leaving her home or what had motivated her to leave. This was evidently a missing person case, as there was no evidence that she had come to harm. However, there were some clues that perhaps Zoe had not intended to leave for long. On the day that she disappeared, she had not taken any of her clothes, and she didn't have any money. If she had left of her own accord,

how did she intend on living? This seemed strange to those that knew Zoe, and there was also the fact that she had left behind her two children with no clue as to her whereabouts, and she had not contacted them in the time that elapsed between her disappearance and the police becoming involved. Her family did not believe she would have abandoned her children, and it was difficult to

comprehend that she just vanished into thin air. Her description was issued to the public in the hope that someone had seen her and could provide the police with information. She was reported as being five feet six inches tall, immediately and build, with black shoulder length hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing red jeans, a black coat, and black ankle boots. In the months following her disappearance, police continued to collate information from the public and investigate

different possibilities. There was little evidence to go on in the case, However, the longer that Zoe remained missing, the less hope that her family and the police had that she was alive. Checks at local hospitals turned up no evidence of Zoe, and it appeared that she hadn't accessed any of her accounts or made any transactions at the bank. This raised many red flags for the police and indicated

that she had just vanished without a trace. The other thing that seemed unusual about the disappearance was that Zoe was due to inherit around sixty five thousand pounds from her dad's will that had been in trust for her. She was due to receive that on her twenty fifth birthday, not long after she disappeared, and it seemed odd that if she wanted to leave her life behind, that she

was leave before receiving this money. Due to her disappearance, the money remained in trust and had not been paid out. In March nineteen ninety seven, it was reported that a search was underway at the house in New Bank Street where Zoe and Carl lived. This was reported as a routine search, but it was a thorough one, with floorboards

ripped up and the garden excavated for evidence. Kyle's mother, who was helping to look after the couple's children, told the newspaper the police search is just a routine thing. The police asked Carl if it would be all right to do another search of the house, and he said go ahead. Karl is not being questioned by the police. He's staying with the friend for a few days. He's very upset. They had been together for ten ten years

and this is really stressful for him. The search was conducted, however, it didn't appear that anything evidential was discovered at the home. They also conducted searches in Macclesfield at places that Zoe had been known to frequent, including a boggy area of land between the Moss Council estate and the tip This they said was being conducted as a routine search and that police were not working on a specific tip off.

Police seemed to be trying to follow up with as many leads as they could, and it was clear that they did not have a huge amount of evidence as to where she may be. During this time, Zoe's mother, Carol continued to struggle with the idea that her daughter was missing without a trace, and she became more and more convinced, like the police, that Zoe had come to harm. She said, I first feared the worst later that year, when Zoe's twenty fifth birthday came and went with no

word from her. She made a big thing of birthdays and always sent me a card on mine or at Christmas, but nothing has been sent since she disappeared. All I can ask now is that whoever knows what happened to Zoe, would they please have a heart and tell the police. I just want to lay my daughter to rest with dignity. Until Zoe has been found. I cling to the faint hope that she is alive, but deep down I know

she's been the victim of a horrible crime. There was a development in the case when police made an arrest. They had arrested Carl for the murder of Zoe. It was reported that when he was arrested, he became agitated and a police surgeon had to be called to assess his state. He was then sectioned under the Mental Health Act and placed in a hospital. His mother, Jennifer, told me the press that Karl had been pursued by the police, saying they have followed him, took his house to bits,

and exerted psychological pressure. She also said that they had accused her of being obstructive in the investigation. However, she believed that she'd only tried to help the officers. It was confirmed that Karl had been arrested for the murder. However, following his stint in the hospital, who was also confirmed that charges against him had been dropped, presumably due to lack of evidence. This must have been alarming for all involved and did beg the question what exactly did they

think had happened to Zoe. In subsequent appeals, it was clear that police were now treating Zoe's disappearance as a murder investigation without a body. This seemed to be all the more heightened as years began to pass without Zoe contacting anyone in her family, including her children. This was

not like her, an incredibly out of character. In two thousand, Detective Superintendent Andy Tatasall of Greater Manchester Police announced that they had some corroborated information that led them to a scrapyard in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. This scrapyard had a Lindermann shredder which was used to recycle cars, and there were only four of these shredders across the country. This shredder separated metal car parts from non metallic parts and

shredded whole cars. The non metallic elements were then kept in a slurry tank. Detective Superintendent Andy Tatasall said, we strongly believed Zoe's body was disposed of at this scrapyard. We believe there may be minute fragments and remains of bone and teeth in particular. This was a shocking piece of information. However, it appeared that police were treated this

as a serious and credible lead. Andy Tatasaul added, something in the boot of a vehicle could quite easily go undetected, and there's still a chance that we might find a minute piece of Zoe. The police enlisted archaeological experts from Manchester University to help them sive the pieces from the slurry tank in the hope that they would find some bone fragments among the pieces. It took them two days to sieve through all the debris from the machine, which

had not been used for the previous two years. Andy Tatasaul said, we believe the killer was helped in the removal of Zoe's body. They know that, and we will be speaking to them in the future. They will have thought that they've got away with it, but with new forensic tests and the help of the university, we may find traces of Zoe's body. He also added that developments in DNA technology may help to narrowed information from the bone fragments. This was the way in which the case

stayed until a new article emerged in twenty thirteen. It would seem that thirteen years later, the theory on the case had not changed, with Andy Tattersall continuing to believe that the fragments of what looked to be tooth and bone that they found in two thousand could be a clue as to what happened to Zoe. In this article, police stated that they believed Zoe had been killed in Manchester and her body was taken sixty miles away down the M six to the scrap yard, where Zoe's body

and the car were put through the shredder. He confirmed that the fragments were compared to Zoe's DNA to see if there was a match. There has been no information since about this DNA testing. He said in twenty thirteen. We are now convinced that Zoe has been killed and that her body was disposed. Strongly that we're closing in on those responsible and bearing that in mind, I would urge anyone who has information to come forward now and tell us what they know. It would be in their

best interests. This is where the case now remains and seems to have stayed for the past twelve years, with little information being published about Zoe's case. It's clear that police believes that she was murdered in nineteen ninety six. However, who did this and exactly how it was done is unclear. Police clearly believe that they're working incredible information about the scrapyard and the shredder. However, if this is true, then

this is an awful, brutal, and devastating crime. Who would have committed such a terrible crime and why Zoe her family have had to live with not knowing what happened to her for all these years, including her two children who she left behind. The not knowing must be horrendous for everyone involved in this case. Police believes that someone close to Zoe are from the area, must know what happened to her, and they have hoped for all these

years that this person will come forward. Chief Inspector Jeff Arnold said it best at the time of the original investigation, we have not had so much of a hint of a sighting of Zoe. She has vanished without trace. But we believe that people always holding crucial information about what happened I urge them to search their consciences and end Zoe's family's pain once and for all. Can anyone imagine that agony her mother is endured and is still enduring.

If you know anything about the disappearance or murder of Zoe Simpson in nineteen ninety six in Longsight, then please contact the police on one oh one or crime stoppers are eight hundred five five five one one. One could really help her family to finally find out what happened to her. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you'd like to support the podcast further than you can on Patreon and contribute to exclusive polls to get extra

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