MYSTERY OF MISSING YORKSHIRE MUM

MISSING | Dutch police have found no trace of Wendy Whitehead

Has a Yorkshire mother of three been murdered on the Continent?

Wendy Whitehead disappeared 14 months ago. It’s almost as if she’s vanished off the face of the earth.

In a story straight out of the pages of a mystery novel, Wendy Whitehead surprisingly left everything behind for a new life in Holland. This included her father, three grown-up children and grandchildren.

Forty-six year old Wendy, left for Hilversum near Amsterdam, with her boyfriend Steve Oldman.

Wendy, who was born in Hull, but lived in Leeds went missing on Boxing Day 2001. It was after a row with her boyfriend.

But Steve didn’t raise the alarm and police were only alerted some four months later.

Volatile

Steve never expected Wendy to be away for so long

Wendy and Steve had a volatile relationship. Police were called several times to a flat they lived in. On one occasion Wendy actually stabbed Steve.

To some who lived nearby, they were the neighbours from hell.

Steve denies having anything to do with Wendy’s disappearance.

He recognises that in hindsight, he should have reported her absence to the police. He says, "I wasn’t expecting Wendy not to be around for this length of time."

"I left it and one day went into another and it never got done."

Raising the alarm

Wendy’s father, John Allison, raised the alarm when he didn’t get a fathers day card.

As a result, an international police search is underway with investigations being carried out in both the UK and Holland. So far all inquiries have drawn a blank.

With no confirmed sighting and no body having being found, Wendy’s disappearance is still being treated as just a missing persons inquiry.

Police Inquiry

Wendy's dad John lives in hope of her safe return

Detective Inspector Steve Robinson says, "At the back of your mind you’ve got to consider the worst, considering the amount of devotion she had to her family."

There is also little doubt that the time delay in reporting Wendy missing has hampered the police investigation.

Mr Robinson says, "It’s certainly more difficult for us to backtrack over four months because a great deal can happen in an investigation in that time."

"No doubt some aspects of the investigation have been lost as a result of the time delay."

Hope

Wendy never settled in Holland. She struggled with the language and eventually landed a job that she didn’t like.

In her last contact with her family, she was frightened and unhappy.

She disappeared leaving most of her possessions behind. Her passport had gone, but her bank accounts remain untouched.

Back home in Hull, Wendy’s father John Allison is clinging to hope but is fearing the worst. John says;

"I just seem to think she’s been abducted because she hasn’t been in touch."

"I wonder whether she’s got into a relationship with somebody who’s a bit of a control freak and won’t let her get in touch. That’s all I can think of because she would have got in touch, I know she would."

But until any more information is uncovered, Wendy has become another sad missing person statistic.