Melanie Hall Missing since June 9, 1996
Circumstances of Disappearance
Police investigating the disappearance of a woman after a night out at a club in the city of Bath more than ten years ago arrested two men yesterday.
Avon and Somerset police confirmed that they had arrested two men after they had received new information. Melanie Hall, from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, went missing on June 9 1996, when she was 25 years of age.
She had spent a night at a Bath nightclub. Her disappearance sparked a huge police search and public appeal. But despite enormous publicity, the offer of a £10,000 reward and the case being featured on a TV Crimestoppers special, no trace of the hospital worker has been found. Two men in their mid-30s from the Bath area were being held by police at separate locations yesterday and police confirmed that a number of properties in the Bath area had also been searched. Detective Superintendent Barrie Douglas, who is leading the inquiry, said: 'As with all major investigations, the case is never closed.
The last sighting of Melanie was of her sitting on a stool on the edge of the nightclub dancefloor at 1.10am. Witnesses said she had argued with her surgeon boyfriend. Det Supt Douglas asked anyone who had not come forward to do so now. He added:'To jog people's memories, Melanie went missing from Cadillac's nightclub in Bath in the early hours of Sunday June 9. 'The previous day, Saturday, had been the start of the Euro '96 football tournament hosted in England.'
A FARM and a charity shop were being searched this week after police arrested two men in connection with the disappearance of Bradford on Avon woman Melanie Hall . The 25-year-old vanished on June 9, 1996, after a night out with friends at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath. Her body has never been found. This week 40 police officers were back working on the case and on Wednesday police arrested two men, said to be in their 30s and from the Bath area, after officers received fresh information. But this lead led to nothing and the search goes on.
The investigation into Melanie's disappearance has never been closed and police hope these new leads could finally solve the mystery of what happened to the hospital worker. Detective Superintendent Barrie Douglas, who is leading the investigation, said: 'This is a prime example, when nearly seven years later someone turns up with information, and you just wonder whether there are other people out there who need to search their conscience as well. 'They need to come forward, in particular for Melanie's family who have suffered long enough.
'In this case someone has finally decided to tell us something, and we have been able to make these arrests.' Melanie was brought up in the Bradford on Avon area and was living in Bradford Leigh with her parents when she vanished. She had just graduated from Bath University and was employed as a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital. Her father, Steve Hall told the Wiltshire Times he and his wife Pat had been kept informed of the developments in the case. Mr Hall said: 'It has come as a bit of a shock to hear of the arrests. It is far too early to know whether this will finally lead to the truth about what happened. We hope this is the breakthrough the police need.
' Police have now made a new appeal for information. Det Supt Douglas said: 'To jog people's memories, on Saturday June 5, the Euro `96 football tournament hosted in England started.' Melanie's disappearance sparked one of the biggest police investigations by Avon and Somerset police. Thousands of interviews and searches failed to produce any sign of what happened when she left the nightclub. Melanie had gone to the club in Walcot Street with new boyfriend, Philip Kurlbaum, then a doctor at the RUH. He left Cadillacs at 1am thinking Melanie had left with friends, but her friends had left without her thinking she was with him. She had only been seeing him for a few weeks when she disappeared and police have confirmed he is not involved in the inquiry.
Melanie Hall Missing since June 9, 1996 from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom Age at Time of Disappearance: 25 years old Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair. Circumstances of Disappearance Hall was last seen at Cadillac's nightclub in Bath, Enland on June 9, 1996. The last sighting of Melanie was of her sitting on a stool on the edge of the nightclub dancefloor at 1:10am. Witnesses said she had argued with her surgeon boyfriend. A new witness may hold vital clues to Miss Hall's disappearance.
A mystery woman seen drinking in a Bath pub could hold vital information in the case of missing woman Melanie Hall. Officers investigating the disappearance of the hospital clerical worker from a nightclub in 1996 have appealed for the new witness, believed to be called 'Shelley', to come forward. The witness is thought to have been in the Lamb and Lion pub in Lower Borough Walls, Bath, on Saturday evening, June 8, 1996 - the night Miss Hall was last seen. 'Shelley' is described as a white woman, in her early to mid 20s, with long dark hair to the middle of her back.
Detectives think she may have been a hairdresser or have a connection to the hairdressing trade. At the time of Melanie's disappearance this woman probably didn't think she could help, but authorities desperately want to talk to her now. It is thought Shelley left the pub with two men at about 11:45pm to walk towards Cadillacs nightclub.
Police think she may have changed her mind and decided against going to the club. Detective Superintendent Barrie Douglas who is leading the investigation said: 'We have traced the two men (they were arrested in March 2003), but want to speak to Shelley.
She may not realise it but she could have crucial information that would help our enquiry. At the time of Melanie's disappearance this woman probably didn't think she could help, but we desperately want to talk to her now.' Neither of the men arrested was Miss Hall's boyfriend. Police also cordoned off an area of land at Inglesbatch, which is used as a motorcycle track, to carry out a search. The farm itself was also searched. The cellars of a charity shop in Bath, which was a taxi company at the time Miss Hall went missing, have also been searched.
Despite extensive searches, no trace of Miss Hall, has ever been found. If you have any information concerning this case, please contact: Avon and Somerset Constabulary 0845 4567000
MELANIE Hall's disappearance in 1996 sparked one of the west's biggest ever police investigations. Police have never closed the case and several times hopes have been raised of an answer. Police questioned hundreds of clubbers, carried out house-to-house calls in the city and searched roads, gardens and the River Avon. They thought they had a breakthrough a week after she disappeared, when police helicopters flew into action after a member of the public reported a possible sighting of Melanie.
A man said he had seen a young woman who matched her description on the towpath near Bradford on Avon, but a thorough search found nothing. In September 1996, the police said publicly for the first time that they believed Melanie was dead. Detective Superintendent Steve Livings, who led the initial investigation, said he feared 'something awful' had happened to Melanie, who had been described as a responsible person. In November that year, the BBC's Crimewatch programme showed a reconstruction of her last movements.
It prompted more than 100 calls, but none of them provided the information police had hoped for. A man made two calls to the Bath incident room after the reconstruction was shown and police believed he could have crucial information, but, tragically, he never rang back. Speaking on camera for the first time about her disappearance was Melanie's boyfriend, Philip Kurlbaum, who she met through her work at the hospital. In the programme he spoke of how upset he felt when he saw her dancing with another man the night she disappeared.
Mr Kurlbaum said: 'I could not explain it, we had a wonderful time and were in really good spirits and went to have some fun and I saw her dance with this man in a rather intimate fashion.'
He said he left the club and waited for her in his car. She did not come out of Cadillacs and Mr Kurlbaum decided to drive home alone. He said: 'She appeared to me an affectionate and attractive woman. I had sort of dated her for three weeks. We did quite a lot of things together, we went out for meals, to the cinema and had a very good time.'
The investigation was scaled down in 1997 when police admitted they had little more to go on. On the first anniversary of her disappearance, her parents visited the club to hand out leaflets, hoping to jog people's memories. Det Supt Livings said: 'We did not have much response to that evening. I feel sad for the whole family, I have got no news to tell them. I cannot even tell them I have found Melanie in whatever state she is in.'
Then, in 1998, police interviewed a convicted murderer in connection with Melanie's disappearance. John Cannan was convicted of the murder of Bristol woman, Shirley Banks in 1987. Cannan shared a cell with rapist Christopher Clark who attacked a woman in Bath six weeks after Melanie disappeared. Her parents never gave up hope and on the second anniversary of her disappearance they put up a £10,000 reward for new information. There were no new leads until December 2000 when police again linked their operation to another case.
Mark Shillibier had been convicted of murdering teenager Rebecca Storrs, and a friend of his claimed Shillibier had bragged about killing Melanie. The police said they were linking Shillabier to her disappearance, but since then no further information has been released.
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