Thursday the 23rd of June, 18-year-old Louise, her boyfriend Pete and some friends went to a disco at Eastbourne Pier. The group left the disco in the early hours of Friday morning. Louise was driving, so she gave everyone a lift home. At some point along the way, Louise and Pete had an argument about a trip that they were planning to go on to Newquay to get summer jobs. Pete could no longer make the trip as he had to pay the rent on his flat and could not afford to go. Pete got out of the car, leaving Louise and her friend Sarah. Louise was quite upset as she was looking forwards to going on the trip.
At around 4 am, Louise dropped Sarah off at her home. Sarah asked if Louise wanted to go inside, but she said she did not feel like it. There are two different accounts of what Louise told Sarah before driving off. One was that she was going home, and the other was that she was going to Beachy Head. Beachy Head is a popular spot with nature lovers and hikers. It is an isolated area and contains the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, which provides beautiful views out to sea.
What happened after Louise left Sarah’s house, nobody knows, as Louise never arrived home. Louise, nor the car that she was driving have ever been found.
Louise’s house, which she shared with her parents, Sylvia and Paul, near Eastbourne in Sussex, was just four miles away from where Sarah lived. Reports say that Louise would often sleep in her car, and the Bracknell News reported that she did indeed head to Beachy Head to sleep in her car that morning.
The car that Louise was driving belonged to her father. It was quite distinctive, a gold Ford Fiesta with a white driver-side door, registration RFG 740R. Police appealed to scrap dealers in the area to see if anyone had taken in a car matching that description, but nothing was found.
Louise’s case has been linked to that of Jessie Earl and the serial killer Peter Tobin. However, Sussex police state that there is no evidence to link Peter Tobin to Louise, as all the evidence is circumstantial.
Tobin was working in a hotel in Eastbourne at the time that Louise went missing. Investigations Editor for Newsquest reports that Tobin was selling a hand-painted car around the same time that Louise disappeared. Louise’s car was never scrapped, sold or taxed as far as official records were concerned, so somebody must have changed the plates or somehow disposed of it.
Tobin was a despicable man, with experts and the police believing that he killed many other women.
As of 2023, Louise has never been found.
