‘Someone out there must know something’
MORE than 40 areas have been searched, 200 people interviewed and 900 statements taken by police investigating the disappearance of Kyle Vaughan eight years ago.
Despite a thorough and lengthy enquiry, no body has ever been found, and no-one has ever been charged in relation to his disappearance.
Details of the scale of the investigation come as police renewed their appeal for information today on what would have been Kyle’s 32nd birthday.
The Newbridge man, then 24, left his family home on the evening of December 30, 2012, and never returned.
His car, a silver Peugeot 306, was found having been involved in a single vehicle collision on the A467 between Risca and Crosskeys. It is not clear whether Kyle had been driving or not.
Remembering the knock on the door every parent dreads, Kyle’s father Alan Vaughan told the Western Mail last year: “How the hell I kept on going I don’t know, we didn’t sleep for four days with worry and we went out searching for him.”
A missing person inquiry was launched following Kyle’s death, later progressing into a murder investigation.
In 2013, three people were arrested on suspicion of Kyle’s murder. Two were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and three were arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. All have since been released without charge, and nobody has ever been charged in relation to his disappearance.
In 2015 Kyle’s late mother Mary made a desperate plea for information, saying the thought of not finding out what happened to her son was “too cruel to contemplate”.
Mary, who at the time was suffering from advanced liver cancer, said: “Someone out there must know something. I want to say to them: put yourself in my shoes.”
News of Mary’s illness worsening made both parents’ search for answers more desperate, but further appeals have so far proven to be fruitless.
That’s despite police searching 40 areas, interviewing 200 people and taking 900 statements.
By the time three years had passed since Kyle’s disappearance, detectives had already gone through more than 10,000 lines of telecommunications data, 200 plus hours of CCTV footage and around 2,000 separate pieces of property.
In 2016, the former Cwmcarn High
School pupil known to his friends as “Jabber”’ was presumed legally dead by a High Court judge and his parents received a presumption of death certificate.
Kyle’s mother sadly passed away on New Year’s Day 2018 due to complications arising from her illness, but last year Mr Vaughan said he believed their son’s disappearance had been a factor, saying “she died of a broken heart”.
Mr Vaughan, who regularly visits St Mary’s Church in Newport, where Mary is buried and where there is a headstone commemorating her and Kyle, said: “The worst part is, when you lose a loved one from natural causes, over time your pain eases but when someone is murdered you’ll never get over it. You can’t realise the enormity of it because your brain doesn’t shut down and you’re awake all night.”
Eight years on, on the day Kyle would have turned 32, Gwent Police have put out a renewed appeal for information.
Detective Chief Superintendent Nicky Brain, who is leading the investigation, said: “Our investigation into what happened to Kyle that night in December remains very much active. Eight years on and we remain in regular contact with Kyle’s family, and continue to receive information from members of the public, all of which is recorded and investigated by officers on our Major Incident Team.
“This has obviously been an extensive enquiry. To date; 40 areas have been searched, over 200 people interviewed, over 180 intelligence logs submitted and nearly 900 witness statements taken. Unfortunately though, we still don’t have the answers we need, and Kyle’s family so desperately want.
“We are still keen to receive any information that may assist our enquiries, however minor you may feel it is.”
Mr Vaughan added: “We want to find Kyle. It would be good to know that Mary will be with him.”
For the next two weeks Gwent Police are hosting website mipp. police.uk/operation/ 62WH020313K13-PO1 where people can submit any relevant information they may have, along with their contact details. This will go directly to the investigating officers for further examination.
■ Alternatively you call 101 or, if you would prefer to provide information anonymously, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 quoting log 397 30/12/12.