20 years after Louise Kerton disappeared, she went Germany In order to vacation with her boyfriend’s family and disappear, her father is looking for new clues.
Phil Kerton hopes that the promotional activities to commemorate the anniversary may trigger memories or encourage Germany, the United Kingdom, or Belgium -She should travel by rail and sea-reopen the case.
“We just want to know what happened. Maybe someone remembers something. I kept the same cell phone number and hope she can call one day, no matter how likely it is,” he said.
The 24-year-old Louise and her boyfriend Peter Simon’s family failed to show up after five weeks of rest in the village of Strathfeld near Bonn. She went there because she failed the nursing exam.
Simon’s mother Lamana said that she got off the train at Aachen railway station on July 30, 2001. From there she planned to take a train to the port of Ostend, Belgium, and then take a catamaran to Dover.
However, at any stage of the journey, no witnesses who had seen Louise were found. Someone speculates whether she has ever been on a train.
A sort of Popular German Podcasts The focus on cold cases last year has caused renewed attention to the disappearance in Germany.
Simon is half of German descent. He lives in a home with Kerton in Broadstairs, Kent. He traveled from Germany to England two days before his fiancée to pick up some building materials ordered by his family. He arrived at the Port of Dover on the evening of July 30 as planned.
Kerton’s sister Francesca, Simon called her and said that when she did not show up, his reaction was strange.
Phil Kerton recalled: “He cried and said she must be dead, so my daughter Francesca said,’Why don’t you think about the possibility that she might be on the next ferry?'”. Another sister Angela said in the next few days that Simon had told her that Louis’s ghost had appeared in front of him.
At his home in New Ash Green near Sevenoaks, Phil Kerton, 76, and retired manager of Blue Circle Cement Company, is surrounded by Louis’ memories. In addition to the photos of her and her siblings, there are also her ceramics: plates, houses, and totem poles. He joked that these items are too heavy to be moved while cleaning.
“She is artistic,” he said. “Her teacher always said that she was a mystery: very focused and interested, but she found it difficult to show her work. They said her work was always a mess.” She was diagnosed with dyslexia and discovered that art is An effective way to express yourself.
Kerton said she gave birth prematurely at 27 weeks. “She stayed in the incubator for 8 to 10 weeks, and we were not allowed to touch her-it was the rule at the time. Now they encourage this contact.” She went to the hospital for regular checkups before the age of four. “Her calendar age is very young, very special to us,” he said.
When his daughter disappeared, he and his wife Case posted missing persons posters around the ports and stations in Dover, Ostend and Aachen, and returned along the same route that Louise was supposed to take.Cases generated Considerable publicity At the time, especially because Louise and the 21-year-old flight attendant Lucie Blackman (Lucie Blackman) attended the same school. Murdered in Japan in 2000 Louise was obviously friendly to whom; and later went to the same school as Clare Tiltman, who was Stabbed to death in 1993 at the age of 16, But whose murderer was not convicted until 2014.
“We have discussed many of these cases. She has understood them very well since she was a child, and the pain they cause to her family,” Kerton said.
Kerton believes that in the first few weeks after Louis’ disappearance, police in Kent, Belgium, and Germany were slow to act. Louise has turned 18 and Kerton believes that from an official’s point of view, there is no reason to believe that anything suspicious may have happened to her: she is more likely to seek a new life.
“But we know our daughter. She is a caring and caring person who is very close to family and friends. They always remember birthdays and call us often. But she seems to have disappeared out of thin air,” Kerton said. .
The police are indeed interested in Peter Simon’s brother Michael, who was acquitted of murder in the UK. Her father said that Louise had a calming effect on Michael, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia.
The Kent police stated that it was not their responsibility to investigate the disappearance and they needed to contact the German police; the Aachen police stated that they had referred the case to the state police, but this was not an active investigation.
Bob Moffat was the Superintendent of Scotland Yard. At the end of 2001, the Kertons hired him as a private investigator. He said that the case was “still a big mystery” for 20 years.
Moffat believes that it was the appearance of him and Davis (the former head of royal protection hired by the Kertons) that put pressure on the German authorities to search Simon’s home and nearby gravel pits, even though they were not until 2002 Do this in September. Nothing was found.
The Simons have always insisted that their family members have nothing to do with Louise’s disappearance.
Moffat retained his interest in the case, although he said he believed that Louise was probably dead based on more than 50 years of experience in murder investigations, but he retained all his files, hoping that the case would be resolved one day.
Moffat and Kerton repeatedly criticized the Simon family for failing to cooperate with the police, and emphasized what they believed were inconsistencies and unanswered questions. Since then, the Simons have moved out of their home in Strathfeld. It is rumored that Peter Simon lives in Switzerland.
Case died of stomach cancer 10 years ago, and she never understood what happened to her daughter.
“We hope to know the truth one day,” Kerton said. Whenever he heard potentially new information, he would contact the police, such as Christian Brückner last summer. Listed by the German authorities as the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
“I told them to take a look, because he may be involved in a wide range of cases,” he said.
He still keeps the handwritten letter written by Louise to her parents on July 20, 2001. This was the last letter they sent from her 10 days before she was scheduled to return to the UK. She wrote in it: “I keep it well. I had a good time in Germany. It’s green here and the weather is good. Don’t worry about me.”
He was still confused by what he meant by simplicity and neatness.
“Her letters are almost always very long, with a lot of things written in the margins, and due to her dyslexia, many cuts and improvements,” he said.
