cold case
Who was Carol Ann Stephens and what happened to her?
THE shocking murder of Carol Ann Stephens in 1959 has never been solved, leaving her family devastated.
Here, we look at what happened to her, and if there are any further developments in the case.
1
Who was Carol Ann Stephens?
Carol Ann Stephens was a six-year-old, who was kidnapped in 1959.
She was missing for two weeks, before being found dead in April of that year.
The Cardiff schoolgirl usually played outside with her friends in the street.
What happened to Carol Ann Stephens?
On April 7, 1959, Carol went to the shops for her mother to get some cigarettes and sweets.
READ MORE ON COLD CASE FILES
She returned home with her purchases and told her mum that she was going out to play.
Her mother told her that she was cooking dinner and not to be long, but recalled that Carol Ann appeared very anxious to get back out.
Carol Ann's friend, Kevin Northcott, told her mum that she said she was going for a ride in a car.
After she disappeared, other friends recounted how she had been telling them that she had a "new uncle" in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.
Most read in The Sun
Her friend said that he had seen her approach a green car that was parked around the corner and he witnessed Carol Ann tapping on the passenger side door.
A number of other witnesses had seen her getting out of a green car in the days before her disappearance.
The young girl's mother told police that they discouraged her from speaking to strangers but she was a friendly girl.
After she failed to return home, police launched an appeal and conducted a huge manhunt.
Then on April 22, 1959, the investigation came to an abrupt end.
Carol Ann's body was found in a small ravine near the hamlet of Horeb in Carmarthenshire.
It was believed she had been dead for more than a week before the body was discovered due to overhanging leaves and branches.
She had been sexually assaulted and strangled before her body was dumped some 60 miles away from where she disappeared.
Despite police speaking to 10,000 people, searching 3,000 vehicles, and taking more than 1,100 statements there were no clues whatsoever.
The incident led to a campaign being launched making children aware of "stranger danger" and to not get into cars with strangers.
Who was Carol Ann Stephens' mother?
Mavis Stephens, Carol Ann's mother, was separated from her father.
She lived with her then boyfriend and step-father of the young girl.
Carol Ann's father was interviewed by police about the disappearance as he had been wanting custody of his daughter.
He reported to the Met Police and was able to prove that he was in London at the time of the incident.
After the event, numerous witnesses spoke of how they had seen the young girl getting in and out of a green car in the lead up to her abduction.
A neighbour even reported seeing a man looking over their garden wall peering at Carol Ann's bedroom one evening.
Despite this information, police were never able to find the person responsible for the abduction and murder of Carol Ann.
Her mother passed away in 2002, never knowing what truly happened to her daughter on that fateful day.
The disappearance and murder of the young girl was featured as part of a new three-part documentary called Cold Case Detectives on ITV1, which first aired on March 9, 2023.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
For those who wish to catch-up on the programme it will be possible to watch it again on .
Despite making circumstantial breakthroughs in the case, modern DNA testing in ITV's documentary could not return a conclusive result into how Carol died.
Topics