Skegness Butcher Disappears
[Some of the wording in the original document is obscured and impossible to read. Therefore I have replaced these words with ***.]
Skegness Butcher Disappears
The 29-year-old driver of a mobile butcher’s shop *** his van on the sea *** at Chapel St Leonards on Thursday afternoon and disappeared without a trace.
Frank Edwin Ramsden of the Bungalow Roman Bank *** was reported missing early Thursday evening when he failed to return from *** immediate police investigations found the van – but not Ramsden.
He had been out on a routine *** of Chapel in the mobile *** his employees H Stow and Sons Ltd, butchers of Roman Bank Skegness.
*** an investigation into Ramsden’s disappearance, Inspector Alfred Fisher *** Monday that the only clues to what happened to Ramsden were his jacket *** not found in the abandoned van.
“Depressed”
The note, said Chief Inspector *** gave “some indication that he was in an ex*** depressed state”.
Inspector Fisher said *** intense inquiries *** holidaymaker had remembered seeing a man answering Ramsden’s description leaving the van where it was parked at the bottom of Trunch Lane at about 3 pm on Thursday.
A second person, investigations have revealed, spotted what he thought to be a skindiver in the sea just after 3 pm.
The police, said Chief In spector Fisher, have been unable to trace any skin diver.
BIG SEARCH
An intensive search of the area where the van was found was made with police search dogs all Thursday night and Friday. Nothing was found. Even aircraft from RAF Manby failed to spot anything of help.
Chief Inspector Fisher said that during the investigations into the death of Mr John Frederick Palmer, an 84-year-old employee at Stow’s butchers, whose body was found buried in a field near Louth this January, Mr Ramsden had been among those people questioned.
Frank Ramsden Lives with his parents, Mr and Mrs H. Ramsden. He has worked with Stow’s Butchers since he left Skegness Lumley School 15 years ago. He has a brother in Skegness, Mr Harry Ramsden, of Kings Avenue, Winthorpe.
The police description of Mr Ramsden is: 5ft bin tall, slight build, with light brown, receding hair. On Thursday afternoon he was wearing the jacket which was found in the van, a blue crew necked sweater and brown trousers.
Mr H. Stow, owner of Stow’s butchers, said yesterday (Tuesday) that he was selling the mobile shop. This was because Mr Ramsden has run the van single handed and a replacement would be hard to come by.
Mr Stow said that Mr Ramsden is a fully qualified butcher. He has always found him to be a reserved person. “He does not smoke, does not drink —but is a very good worker,” said Mr Stow.
Chief Insp Fisher said yesterday (Tuesday) that the van had been fingerprinted. “We are still making inquiries at Chapel for anyone who saw Mr Ramsden after 3 pm,” he said, “but we haven’t had any success in that direction yet.”
He said he did not know if Mr Ramsden was due to give evidence in the Palmer murder case, but Mr Ramsden was “certainly not regarded as a vital witness.”
Anglers find butcher’s body
THE BODY of Mr Frank Edwin Ramsden„ a 29-year-old butcher, of Manor Bungalow, Roman Bank, Ingoldmells, was found on the beach at Winthorpe by two anglers in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Mr Noel William Smalley and Mr Michael David Fagan, both of Count Alan Road, Winthorpe, were attending to cod lines at 12.20 am when they discovered the body and informed the police.
An inquest was opened at Skegness on Monday and adjourned to Thursday next week.
Sgt Maurice Alan Housam said he visited the beach at 1.20 am on Thursday, 13 April, and found Mr Ramsden’s body lying on the sand 200 yards south of Winthorpe Avenue. The tide was out and it was some 20 yards from the edge of the sea.
Evidence of identification was given by one of Mr Ramsden’s three brothers, Mr Cyril John Ramsden, of 15 Lyndhurst Avenue, Skegness.
The coroner, Mr I. L. Mitchell-Smith, said the post mortem examination showed that the condition of the body was consistent with drowning.
The funeral is due to take place today (Wednesday) at Seathorne Methodist Church.
April 1972
The Palmer Murder Case:
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