It remains one of the most heartbreaking and highest-profile missing person cases in Norfolk history.
April Fabb, 13, was last seen near her home in Metton, north Norfolk, on April 8, 1969 – 55 years ago this week.
She had been cycling to her older sister's house in Roughton to deliver a birthday present of a packet of cigarettes to her brother-in-law.
But April never arrived.
The last sighting of the teenager was by an employee at the nearby Harrison’s Farm, who passed her on Roughton Road just after 2pm.
Less than ten minutes later, April’s bike was seen lying in a field by three Ordnance Survey workers.
It had been thrown over a 6ft bank on the country lane where she had been riding.
April had left her home at about 1.40pm that Tuesday afternoon. But as night fell, she had still not returned home.
After learning that she had not been seen all day, April’s parents, Enerst and Olive Fabb, called the police at 10pm.
What they didn't know was that her bike had been found in the field by a passing motorist and taken to a police station in Roughton.
What followed was the biggest search in the history of the Norfolk force.
On the first day, the search involved 40 officers and every police dog in the country.
But despite 1,971 statements being taken and the 419 house-to-house questionnaires completed in the days that followed, April remains missing and no-one has ever been charged.
Now, 55 years since April's disappearance, Norfolk Constabulary has renewed its appeal for information.
Retired Detective Chief Inspector Andy Guy, who manages cold cases at both Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies, said: “Fifty five years on April Fabb’s disappearance still resonates in Norfolk.
“Sadly both her parents have died without knowing what happened to April, along with others who may have had information.
“However, loyalties and circumstances change over the years and we would encourage anyone with information that could help provide answers to come forward.”
April 8, 1969
At about 1.40pm on Tuesday April 8, 1969, 13-year-old April Fabb left her home at 3 Council House in Metton.
It was a sunny day during the Easter holidays and April planned to cycle around two miles to her older sister Pamela's house in Roughton to deliver a birthday present of a packet of cigarettes to her brother-in-law.
She was wearing a wine-coloured woollen skirt, a green jumper, a pair of long white socks and wooden-soled sandals with red straps and brass buckles.
She had the 10 cigarettes, 5½d and a handkerchief in the saddlebag of her bicycle.
Shortly after leaving home she saw two friends playing with a donkey in a field in the village next to Harrison’s Farm, on Cromer Road.
She stopped to pet the donkey but left after about ten minutes, telling her friends she was on her way to her sister's.
At 2.06pm, an employee at Harrison’s Farm saw April riding her bicycle along Roughton Road in the direction of Roughton.
The employee was driving a Land Rover and passed in the opposite direction.
This was the last known sighting of April.
Nine minutes later, at 2.15pm, April's bicycle was seen lying in a field by three Ordnance Survey workers in a van, just a few hundred yards from where she was last seen.
She had disappeared within a time frame of no more than ten minutes.
At about 3pm, a local man was driving his mother home when he saw April’s bicycle in the field.
He took it to the police house at Roughton where he handed it to the village PC.
The cigarettes, money and handkerchief were all still in the saddlebag.
The possessions remain in an evidence store at Norfolk Constabulary, but April's bike was later disposed of at her mother's request.
April Fabb
April Fabb was the youngest of the three daughters of Ernest and Olive Fabb. Both died without ever knowing what happened to their daughter.
April's father, Ernest, died in 1998 and her mother, Olive, in 2013.
The family lived at 3 Council House in Metton.
Her older sisters Pamela and Diane had already moved out at the time of her disappearance.
April was said to be a shy girl. She was an animal-lover, close to the family's terrier, Trudy.
The 13-year-old enjoyed stamp-collecting, needlework and watching Top of the Pops.
On her bedroom walls were posters of her favourite band, Amen Corner, which remained there for years after her disappearance as her parents hoped she may one day come home.
The search continues
In 2010, police excavated a well near the village after hearing the landowner had seen black polythene sheeting at the bottom at the time of April's disappearance.
The following year, there were reports that a man had been seen digging a grave nearby on the Easter weekend of 1969.
Many locals still believe her body may have been disposed of at construction works at the Bacton gas terminal.
However, police say they have searched the pipelines and nothing has ever been found.
Robert Black, the notorious Scottish serial killer who died in prison in 2016 while serving life for the murder of four girls between 1981 and 1986, is a name often linked with April's disappearance.
But although Black would snatch his victims from the roadside, police have never found any evidence linking him to Norfolk in 1969.
There is a memorial to April by the door of the church she used to attend in the village.
Maurice Morson inherited the case in 1983 and wrote a book on April's case.
The headstone was funded by the proceeds of the book.
Mr Morson has now been retired for more than 30 years.
If you have any information, contact Andy Guy, unsolved case review manager at both Norfolk and Suffolk constabularies on 01953 42 3819 or email: unsolvedcasereviews@norfolk.police.uk
Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111
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