Fred West police urged to dig farm sites where bodies of 20 ‘forgotten’ victims may be buried after bombshell evidence
FIELDS where the bodies of 20 of serial killer Fred and Rose West's 'forgotten' victims may be buried should be dug up, bombshell evidence suggests.
The couple brutally murdered at least 12 women and girls in their "House of Horrors" - but a seven-month probe indicates there could have been many more.
Fred and Rose West: Reopened sees a team of investigators explore new potential graves, identified using thermal imaging and cadaver dogs.
This includes a farm where Fred claimed to have buried a dozen bodies.
The first two locations of interest are in Fingerpost Field near Much Marcle, Herefordshire, where Fred buried 18-year-old Annie McFall - his first known victim.
Dogs trained to recognise the smell of decomposed flesh alerted handlers to the potential gravesite, sparking calls for the areas to be excavated, reports.
DCI Colin Sutton, who lead the ITV documentary team, said: "The handler is of the view that we should excavate the sites as soon as possible and I am absolutely on board with that.
"It is a really significant find and a significant piece of work from the cadaver dogs.
";The indications I saw the dog make were so very strong."
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A third spot on a derelict farm site in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, was also identified as a potential mass grave for Wests' victims.
The revelation came to light after the full statement of Fred's 'appropriate adult' - drafted in as West could not read or write - was made public for the first time.
Janet Leach, who was present for all 400 hours of Fred's police questioning, said his brother John and wife Rose "slaughtered people regularly", adding: "Fred told me there were another 20 bodies to be found after the 12, some in fields, the rest in the barn.
"Fred said some of the victims' bones were missing because it was a ritual thing and they did something with the fingers so there was no way of finding out who they were."
His former employers Wendy and Derek Thomson backed these claims up, stating that he had told them he had "done something in Berkeley".
And during episode one of the two-part series, investigators visit the Gloucestershire farm they believe the Thomson's referred to.
Sir Trevor McDonald, who hosts the show, has called on the police to fully search the area.
'TIP OF THE ICEBERG'
"There is still much more to the murderous campaign of Fred and Rose West," he said.
"I think the option of not investigating these fields seems very strange.
"Surely, if there is any suspicion of evidence that there might be more bodies, it follows, as night follows day, that there must be an attempt to discover what happened to these missing people."
Investigative psychologist Dr Donna Youngs added: "It's unlikely there aren’t further murders.
"Everything we know about these two as offenders suggests they will have had the drive to carry on offending,"
Lawyer Howard Ogden agreed, stating: "Dealing with Fred led me to believe that others had been killed.
"Sadly this is something of a tip of an iceberg and inevitably there are others who are yet to be found."
FRED AND ROSE WEST
Fred West was one of Britain's worst serial killers.
He and second wife Rose abducted, tortured, raped and murdered young women over a 20-year period.
They buried many of them under the floorboards of their home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester.
Their victims had missing fingers, their heads taped up and pipes up their noses so they could breathe during the torture they endured at the hands of the couple.
Fred West killed himself while awaiting trial for 12 murders in January 1995, but he had previously confessed to killing up to 30 victims.
Rose was convicted of 10 murders, including that of her daughter, and sentenced to life.
One of the Wests' suspected victims is teenager Mary Bastholm, who vanished from a bus stop in Gloucester in 1968.
The 15-year-old worked in a cafe called Pop-In, now The Clean Plate, where Fred had done some building work.
Her body has never been found, with her parents tragically dying before discovering what happened to their daughter.
Cops excavated the basement after a piece of blue material - believed to be Mary's coat - was found the ITV production crew.
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The search uncovered no evidence that her body had been buried there, but social worker Leach admitted in her statement to picking up Mary.
- Fred And Rose West: Reopened airs on ITV in two parts on September 15 and 16 at 9pm.
