News / Avon and Somerset Constabulary
‘The unsolved murders of two Bristol children is still a tragedy 60 years on’
The unsolved murder of two young siblings in Bristol has been remembered 60 years on, as police admit they never give up hope of solving the tragic case.
It was six decades ago that June Sheasby, 7, and her five-year-old brother, Roy, left their Stapleton home to visit ponies grazing in a nearby field and never returned.
Their disappearance sparked a mass police and public search that went on for 11 days, until on Monday, July 1 1957, the bodies of the two children were found by an officer on the banks of the River Frome at Snuff Mills – about a third of a mile from their house.
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Crowds turned out to help police search for the missing children
Their deaths remain one of the oldest unsolved murder cases in the Avon and Somerset area.
“Sixty years doesn’t diminish the tragedy,” said Detective Sergeant Pete Frake, of the major crime review team.
“The killing of two children is a horrific event and the memories will be long-lasting for anyone who was living in Bristol at the time.
“Over the years, we’ve spoken to thousands of people and taken more than 2,000 statements but no conclusive evidence has been found proving who carried out this heinous act.
“We have lots of original documents from the initial police investigation, including scene photos, house-to-house inquiry logs, original index files, correspondence from the public and an original map showing the movements of the Sheasby children on the evening they went missing.
“But sadly the key piece of evidence missing is DNA.
“You never give up hope of a breakthrough but we have to be realistic. The chances of a murder case being solved after 60 years are minimal. Solving a case this old without any DNA evidence is very unlikely.”
999 record from when the bodies were found
A number of suspects were arrested and interviewed in connection with the double murder, but no one has ever been charged.
Ernie Bussell still remembers the shock in the community
Ernie Bussell, 77, was a teenage police cadet at the time the children went missing and went on to serve as a police constable with Bristol Constabulary until 1971.
He remembers taking part in searches across Snuff Mills and Stapleton in the days after the children went missing.
“We spent quite a bit of time walking up and down the footpath in Snuff Mills and searching the bracken,” remembers Bussell.
“The community at the time was in shock. It was front page of the newspapers every day. People were very, very concerned. They thought someone was out there. There was great anxiety that it was going to happen again.
“I remember hearing they had been found, which in a way was a great relief. But of course it’s an absolute tragedy.”
Anyone with any information about the deaths of Roy and June that has not been passed onto police is asked to call the major crime review team on 101 and mention the information relates to Operation Sheasby.
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