Newport Chronicle: Possible new grave sites linked to serial killer Fred West have been identified in fields in Herefordshire following drone and radar surveys.
POSSIBLE new grave sites linked to serial killer Fred West have been identified. The locations were found in fields in Much Marcle, Herefordshire, near where the remains of two of West's victims were previously discovered. Investigators focused on Fingerpost and Letterbox fields, areas that West was known to frequent during his youth. Fred West, who took his own life in prison in 1995 while awaiting trial, was charged with 12 murders and is widely believed to have killed more. His wife, Rose West, was convicted of 10 murders and remains behind bars, serving a life sentence. The couple's daughter Heather West, who was murdered age 16 in 1987, is buried in the churchyard of St Michael and All Angels' Church in Tintern, Monmouthshire. The latest investigation was prompted by a 2022 documentary, which used ground-penetrating radar technology to identify six potential sites of interest. A recent drone survey has since confirmed two anomalies matching the radar findings, as well as identifying a possible seventh site. John Williams (filmmaker), Carl Marshall (researcher) and George Wrigley (drone pilot) (Image: Courtesy Tim Whittard / SWNS) Tim Whittard, a Gloucester resident who helped organise the survey, said: "We used entirely different technology to the documentary that seemed to corroborate two of the six sites and possibly identified a seventh. "We used the drone to look into a very small area and it was experimental. We were very shocked by the anomalies in the soil. "This cannot be picked up by the naked eye and you wouldn't see them stood next to them. "If we can find even one missing girl it is worth it and that was a sentiment we all shared." Read more Prison death of killer who blamed Fred West investigated by ombudsman Chilling new footage shows search for remains of Fred West's victims in Herefordshire Rose West's life behind bars: Killer 'rarely leaves cell and is ignored by prisoners' The team used advanced software to identify three anomalies in the soil, with one site having a pronounced, rectangular shape. Mr Whittard said the results should be taken seriously and called for a full excavation, stressing that the missing women "are someone's sister, girlfriend, daughter." He said: "Most research that has been done has targeted Fingerpost field and we know Fred favoured burying victims around the perimeters of the two fields. "Those girls are still missing."