Human Remains: Mansfield

14 October 2013, 14:56 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

The bodies of two people found buried in the back garden of a house in a quiet cul-de-sac could be an elderly couple who used to live at the property, police have said.

Nottinghamshire Police believe they could be William Wycherley, who would now be 100, and his wife Patricia, 79. 

The couple moved in to the semi-detached house in 2 Blenheim Close, Forest Town, Mansfield in 1987. There has been no trace of the pair since 1998, police said today.

Neighbours last week said they believed the couple had emigrated after they vanished from the address in the 1990s.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said: ``I only saw the man a few times. I never saw the lady or any family. `

`I've lived here for 18 years. They were living at the house when I moved in. `

`But they never had any visitors. I never saw anyone coming or going. `

`My friend and I always used to say 'I wonder what happened to that couple'. `

`They just disappeared. We thought they had emigrated.''

It is thought the house stood empty for a number of years before a new tenant moved in seven years ago. 

Police have ruled them and the current owner of the house out of their investigation. 

Today Nottinghamshire Police said the couple's ``disappearance'' is central to their inquiry into the remains. The circumstances of their disappearance remains a ``mystery'', Nottinghamshire Police said. Detective Chief Inspector Rob Griffin, who is leading the investigation, said: ``Neither William nor Patricia was ever reported missing and we can find no evidence of either of them being alive or dead. 

The discovery in their former garden last week may be the reason why. ``We have yet to formally identify the remains, and so cannot say with 100% certainty who we have found, but it's not a great leap to imagine it might be the Wycherleys.''