FFK Blog Fehmeeda Farid Khan Blog for Unsolved Miseries
Jamie Lavis was a typical fun loving boy of his age. When he wasn’t watching cartoons, he was outside searching for a new adventure. He grew up in a notorious area, Openshaw in Manchester, England. It was May 1997. Kids would often go outside to play in the street. But on this particular Bank Holiday on Monday, Jamie was hanging around the street. He was looking for something to do. Being the little adventurer, he headed to the bus station. Like a lot of boys of his age, buses, trains, cars etc. fascinated him.
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Little Jamie Lavis didn’t come home on that night of 5 May, 1997. His parents concerned but thought he would come through the door at any minute thinking he’s playing with friends. As the clock struck 8 PM, their fears began to grow stronger. The family took to the streets to look for him. After a couple of hours of search they found no trace of him. They called the police.
The next few days were full of anxiety. His family kept wondering where he was. The police comes to the house back and forth. His mother, Karen appealled for information via TV for any help on her son’s whereabouts.
Phone calls and tips of various alleged sightings of Jamie were passed onto the police but it all in vain. But one day, a man approached Jamie’s sister. He claimed to see Jamie. This man was a 28 year old local bus driver. He made a statement to the family and the police that he saw Jamie on his bus. He told them that the child bought an ‘All Day Rider’ ticket and spent quite a while on the bus before being dropped off near his home.
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The man, Darren Vickers was a nice man. He just wanted to help the family. His information could help the police in their investigation. Darren was invited for dinner and ended up moving into the family home.
Darren intentionally approached and picked up Jamie from the station to fulfill his evil plans. Sadly he went to the woods with Jamie. He later sexually abused, killed and dismembered the body of the boy. After seven weeks of deliberation, Darren Vickers found guilty. He received life sentence in prison with a minimum term of 25 years. He confessed to the investigation officer that he did everything police had suspected of him from the beginning.
