Murder probe after TV actor’s girl dies at pop festival
A MAN was being held on suspicion of murder last night after the youngest daughter of former Coronation Street star John Michie was found dead at a music festival.
The body of Louella Michie, 25, was discovered in isolated woodland on the edge of the family-friendly Bestival.
Police had launched a search when friends reported she had disappeared after the final act at the site on the Lulworth Estate on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast. A 28-year- old London man, who is believed to be known to Miss Michie, was being questioned under caution.
Mr Michie, 60, last night said he believes his daughter’s death was a tragic accident.
He said: ‘We’ve lost our angel. It’s not murder – they were friends. It was just a tragic mistake, a tragic accident.
‘She touched so many lives. She was so very positive, so bright. She had such energy. The tributes to her have been incredible.’
A source told The Sun her death could be linked to an unknown substance.
Mr Michie, who also starred in Taggart and Holby City, and his partner Carol, 66, a former dancer, have two other children, Daisy, 28, and Sam, 26.
They were being comforted by friends at their north London home. The alarm was raised at the festival shortly before 1am yesterday when Miss Michie disappeared shortly after the headline set by the Pet Shop Boys.
On-site police were alerted and her body was found on the edge of the site, which covers hundreds of acres close to the tourist landmark Durdle Door.
Yesterday, the woodland where her body was found had been cordoned off and forensic officers were combing the site. Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Derbyshire confirmed that the 28-year- old man was arrested to ‘enable officers to conduct an interview under caution to help establish the full circumstances’. Speaking at the site, she added: ‘Following the discovery of the woman’s body we have now launched an investigation into her death.
‘ We have specially- trained officers supporting her family at this very difficult time. Inquiries are now under way to establish how she died.
‘A post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course and this should give us more of an indication as to the cause of her death. We are working closely with the festival organisers and I would appeal to anyone with any information about the incident to contact Dorset police.’
Miss Michie was a dancer and model who studied at Tiffany Theatre College before teaching yoga in Dalston, east London. She is a member of a showbiz family, led by her father, who first gained fame in gritty Scottish crime drama Taggart.
He starred as Rover’s Return landlord Karl Munro in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2013. Her mother is former Hot Gossip dancer Carol Fletcher. Sister Daisy is a dancer and stylist and brother Sam is a film director who specialises in rap videos.
Her godfather is One Foot In The Grave actor Richard Wilson. Her father once said that he and Miss Fletcher never married because they were too busy bringing up their children. Bestival began in 2004 on the Isle of Wight and switched to Lulworth this year, hosting 30,000 festival-goers.