Murderer's mansion sold

Kate Prout

Murderer's mansion sold
31 October 2011
Western Daily Press
Eva Jones

As a home it had a macabre, unique selling point and now it seems convicted killer Adrian Prout's farm is on the verge of being sold.

The sprawling country estate was dug up by murder squad detectives in the fruitless search for the farmer's wife during one of the largest and most notorious police operations the West has seen.

Adrian and Kate Prout's 276 acre Redhill Farm in Redmarley near Newent in Gloucestershire went on the market earlier this year for £1.6million after he was convicted in 2010 of killing her. No trace of her body was found despite a huge search at the farm and he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 18 years.

Prout's fiance Debbie Garlick said she would be moving out of the five bedroom home with their baby daughter in two weeks' time. Mrs Prout was last seen alive, in the farmhouse, on November 5, 2007 and the sentencing judge said it was most likely she had been strangled in a row over a divorce settlement and her body disposed of.  

During the investigation specially-trained "cadaver dog" homed in on a specific spot in the living room at the farmhouse but the prosecution relied entirely on a mass of circumstantial evidence to convict him.

The sentencing judge told Prout, who wants to take a lie detector test in a bid to prove innocence, he believed Mrs Prout holding out for £800,000 when she was being offered £600,000 sparked the killing.

Profit from the sale of the farm, after the outstanding £144,000 mortgage is settled, will be shared between Mrs Prout's grieving family and Prout. He is not entitled to a share of the £626,000 she left him in her will.

A Savills spokeswoman declined to comment on the sale, except to say that contracts were being exchanged.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout

Cadaver dog sniffed death in Prout home

Kate Prout

Cadaver dog sniffed death in Prout home
05 March 2011
This is Gloucestershire

EVIDENCE of a dead body inside murdered Kate Prout's home was discovered by a sniffer dog, it has emerged.

The "cadaver dog" homed in on an area in the living room of the Redmarley home she shared with her husband Adrian Prout, who was convicted of her killing last year.

An hour-long documentary on the murder case told how the dog, which was specially trained to seek out dead bodies and where deaths occurred, concentrated on a specific spot in the living room at Redhill Farm.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Biggest search in force history

Kate Prout

Biggest search in force history
The Citizen
6 February 2010

It was a missing person search which soon turned to a murder inquiry.

Everything Kate possessed was left behind at Redhill Farm. Her keys, car, passport, money, bank cards, handbag, shoes and clothes remained as they were when she was last seen on November 5, 2007.

A total 2,200 councils, police forces, the NHS, and government departments have no record of her existence since that day. She has not touched her £700-a-month teacher's pension.

She kept in regular touch with her family, placed flowers on her parents' graves, and made a note of family and friends' birthdays so that she would not forget to send a card.

But police could not find any evidence of her existence continuing after November 5. Newly released pictures from the police of their home show a farmhouse full of home comforts and a feminine touch; from satin bed covers to a Welsh dresser full of china and pictures of animals on the wall. Kate loved her pet dogs.

On November 14 Gloucestershire Constabulary launched one of its biggest searches for a missing person in its history, calling in specially-trained search officers from other forces to help to comb the 276-acre Redhill Farm and surrounding area.

Bound by the M50 motorway, the A417 and the River Leadon, the search area covered a radius centred on the farm of 1.5km to 2km.

Up to 50 search officers, including some from Gwent and West Mercia forces, went over subdivided sectors of the search area at least twice with broomsticks and specially-designed probes.

A sniffer dog called Eddie, which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her either.

The area was photographed from the air to try and identify recently-disturbed ground, a pile of woodchips and a grain store were searched.

The grain was removed to another site by tractors and trailers and put back once officers were satisfied her body was not in the grain store.

Avon and Somerset police divers searched two ponds at the farm, while Thames Valley police frogmen trawled a reservoir used as a water source for a garden centre, north east of the farm.

Vehicles at the farm, including Kate's Mitsubishi and Mr Prout's Jaguar were forensically examined, as was the farm house.

A forensic biologist was called in to carry out a more detailed examination but no blood was found, DS Christopher Ellis told the trial on January 21. He said there was also no sign of forced entry.

Operation Texas, as it was known, saw a huge desk-based hunt for her too - thousands of organisations were contacted as to Kate Prout's whereabouts and of the 2,000 who replied, none had records of her.

Those included Interpol, the UK Border Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, DVLA, local councils, Land Registry, TV licensing, the NHS, dentists, private healthcare providers, utilities, mobile phone operators, Ebay, social networking sites, charities for the homeless and loyalty card organisations.

She was also marked down as a "watched passenger" by the UK Border Agency.

But all this soon pointed the finger of suspicion at her husband.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Redhill Farm

Husband accused of murdering wife gets engaged to new love just weeks ahead of trial

Kate Prout

Husband accused of murdering wife gets engaged to new love just weeks ahead of trial
Daily Mail
24 June 2009

A husband accused of killing his wife has proposed to his lover as he waits to go on trial for murder.

Adrian Prout, 46, popped the question to divorcee and mother-of-two Debbie Garlick while on bail.

The couple are currently living together at his £1.2 million farm in the village of Redmarley D'Abitot, Gloucestershire, where they held an engagement party earlier this month.

The announcement comes just weeks after he was charged with the murder of his wife Kate, 55.

One of Prout's neighbours said she complained about the noise of their engagement party.

Villagers said they attempted to speak with Mrs Garlick about the party, but were told: 'This is my home and I can do what I want. You can't do anything about it.'

A source at Gloucestershire Police added: 'Officers are aware that Mr Prout had quite a big engagement party in the village ten days ago.'

Two days later, the couple spent the evening laughing and joking together in their local pub.

Kate vanished from the farm on Bonfire Night 2007, shortly before their seventh wedding anniversary.

The retired schoolteacher disappeared without taking any clothes or personal possessions such as a passport.

Prout waited five days before he reported her missing.

Despite extensive searches of the property - including the use of sniffer dogs which took part in the hunt for Madeleine McCann - her body has still not been found.

Mrs Garlick, 44, who has a son Austin, 19, and 16-year-old daughter, Jade, lived three miles from the Prouts in the nearby village of Corse.

A neighbour said that she had noticed Mrs Garlick leaving her house in March to live with Prout at Redmarley.

Up to 100 police using mechanical diggers carried out searches at Prout's farm following Kate's disappearance.

They emptied a grain store and scoured ponds and a reservoir in vain. A sniffer dog which took part in the hunt for missing tot Madeleine McCann was also called in without success.

Prout, who runs a pipe laying and civil engineering business, was arrested and questioned twice on suspicion of murder.

At the beginning of this year, detectives said he was no longer on bail and he appeared to be in the clear.

But in March, he was arrested again in a swoop on his home and charged with his wife's murder - despite no body having been found.

He is currently on bail and due to stand trial for murder at Bristol Crown Court at a date to be fixed.

A plea and case management hearing for his trial has been set for July 27. A Facebook page has been created by Mrs Garlick's daughter in a bid to clear Prout's name and prove his innocence.

Mrs Garlick is the second woman to have been linked with Prout since Kate's disappearance.

Just two months after Kate went missing, a 48-year-old woman called Diane Bellamy was arrested with Prout on suspicion of murder.

She was detained at an address in Stroud, Glos,. Two men aged 43 and 45 were also arrested.

At the time Mrs Bellamy, who had split from her farmer husband Tim, was reported to be Prout's girlfriend - an allegation she denied.

She and the two men were released on police bail, which has since been lifted.

Kate's closest family - her brother Richard Wakefield and sister-in-law Linda - refused to comment about the engagement.

Prout was also unavailable for comment.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann

Husband charged with Kate prout's murder

Kate Prout

Husband charged with Kate Prout's murder
Bristol Evening Post
By Daniel Evans Crime Correspondent
11 March 2009

The husband of missing farmer's wife Kate Prout has appeared in court accused of her murder, 16 months after she disappeared.

Adrian Prout, 46, was today charged with killing Mrs Prout, who went missing from their 200-acre property in Gloucestershire 16 months ago.

The retired teacher was 55 when she disappeared from £1.2-million Redhill Farm, in Redmarley D'Abitot, on Bonfire Night 2007.

Her body has never been found despite police conducting an exhaustive "proof of life" investigation.

Mr Prout, a farmer who runs a pheasant shoot, entered no plea to a single count of murder on a date between November 4 and November 11, 2007, at Cheltenham Magistrates' Court today.

He spoke only to confirm his name, age and address, which remains as Redhill Farm.

Magistrates refused him bail and remanded him in custody to appear at Bristol Crown Court on March 17 for a preliminary hearing. Mr Prout was originally arrested shortly after Mrs Prout's disappearance.

He was questioned twice as police undertook an exhaustive search of the 200-acre farm but his bail was cancelled in January.

Mr Prout was arrested for the third time yesterday at the family home in the Forest of Dean and charged with murder after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was sufficient evidence for trial.

Ann Reddrop, Head of the CPS Complex Casework Unit, said: "We have been working closely with the police over the past months to investigate all aspects of Mrs Prout's disappearance before reaching a final decision on charging.

"We have also sought advice from leading counsel. Accordingly, we have this week authorised the police to charge Mr Prout."

Mrs Prout was last heard of when she made a telephone call to the bank, which was taped, at about 3.30pm on November 5, 2007.

She had given no indication anything was wrong when she spoke to her sister-in-law shortly before that call and did not take any personal belongings with her when she disappeared without a trace.

After her husband reported her missing five days later on November 10, more than 100 officers searched a grain store, piles of bark chippings, woodlands, a pool and a reservoir at the Prouts' home.

But despite becoming increasingly convinced Mrs Prout was dead, detectives never found a body.

An underwater team searched ponds on the land and helicopters were sent up to scan the land.

A sniffer dog called Eddie, which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her either.

The case has been dubbed a real-life "Midsomer murder", with many villagers being questioned by officers.

Three other people were arrested, questioned and dropped from enquiries during the investigation.

They were Diane Bellamy, 48, landlord Eric Woolley, 60, and a 43-year-old man from Lydney.

Senior Investigating Officer Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly said yesterday: "This has been a complex, thorough and necessarily lengthy investigation to bring us to this point.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those affected, especially Mrs Prout's friends and family, for their understanding, tolerance and patience."

Mrs Prout's brother Richard Wakefield made pleas for information, but she has never come forward and missed memorable events such Christmases and birthdays.

After her disappearance, Mr Wakefield said: "She was a kind, caring person. She was artistic and she enjoyed sketching and she does the flowers for the local church.

"She enjoys the countryside and she loves walking her dog. She's a good cook, articulate, intelligent and she's always well-presented and the family and all her friends are missing her greatly.

''It's most unusual for Kate to disappear like this at this moment, and I'd like to appeal to everyone to come forward who can help with inquires to bring Kate back."

Mrs Prout is white, 5ft 6in and of medium build.

Described as having a pale complexion, she has green eyes and had brown, shoulder-length straight hair when last seen. She was wearing jeans and a black V-neck top.

Anyone with information about her disappearance should call Gloucestershire Constabulary on 0845 0901234.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Redhill Farm

We will find killer of Forest of Dean housewife

Kate Prout

We will find killer of Forest of Dean housewife
Western Daily Press
3 November 2008

Almost a year after Gloucestershire housewife Kate Prout was murdered, police have announced they are still "very confident" of catching her killer, despite having never located her body.

Leading officers from other forces have been brought in to advise Gloucestershire Constabulary on how to manage a success- ful no-body murder case, it has emerged.

Mrs Prout, 55, vanished from her 200-acre farm in Redmarley, in the Forest of Dean, on Bonfire Night, 2007.

After her disappearance, 50 police conducted a search of her 200-acre farm and surrounding woodland.

Officers emptied a grain store, went through a pile of bark chippings and dived in ponds and a reservoir.

Even Eddie, the sniffer dog which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, failed to find any trace.  

[Blogger note: Eddie found cadaver scent in Prout home. In November 2011, Adrian Prout confessed to murdering Kate.]

But even though the search failed to find a body, detectives were convinced she was dead, because she disappeared without saying where she was going, without taking her phone or any money, and without touching her clothes.

Almost 12 months on, there is still no body, no conviction and no conclusive evidence to prove what happened to her.

But officers remain convinced they know who did it and are working on a way to get a prosecution.

Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly said: "There was no motive for her to disappear. The only reasonable conclusion is that she is no longer alive."

Now the reduced team of 15 dedicated staff working on the case are looking at proving the case is murder even without the body.

Det Sup Kelly said: "From my point of view, I have been happy that this has been a murder from a very early stage."

Conviction rates in these kinds of cases are few and far between.

Leading officers from other forces have been drafted into Gloucestershire Constabulary's HQ to advise county investiga- tors on what they can do.

"We have had the benefit of sharing the details of our inquiry with other officers and getting feedback with regards to the investigation," Det Sup Kelly said.

"We have discussed how other forces were successful and discussed the particular difficulties and issues of other cases.

"We have done extensive searches and taken forensic examinations collecting 1,300 exhibits and 1,000 witness statements.

"There will also be a number of other areas we will be pursuing in the coming months."

As tough as it may be to convict a killer without a body, it can be done.

Chief Inspector Paul Burgan, from Devon and Cornwall Police, worked for 12 months on the murder of 16-year-old Charlotte Pinkney back in 2004 whose body was never recovered.

Without that final missing piece in an investigation, two things have to be proved beyond reasonable doubt. Firstly that the person is dead and secondly they have been murdered by the accused.

But, unlike a standard murder case, the prosecution does not have to prove how the victim was killed.

Chief Insp Burgan said: "It sounds obvious in some ways, but what is the crucial point in a case like this is proving beyond all reasonable doubt that the person is dead.

"In our case it was Charlotte's birthday. She made no contact with her family and that was a clear marker something was wrong."

Det Sup Kelly said they had no intention of stopping their investigation.

He said: "I am very confident we are going to be able to get a successful conclusion. We have no intention of giving up."

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

We'll not give up on Kate...

We'll not give up on Kate...
The Citizen
16 May 2008

Today police are heading back to Redmarley to question villagers again over the suspected murder of a farmer's wife.

Anxious to turn up the vital clue which could locate missing Kate Prout, officers are spending the next three days quizzing residents.

It comes as we publish a picture of Mrs Prout (nee Wakefield) on the day she married Adrian Prout.

The picture, which appeared in The Citizen on November 9, 2000, portrays a country couple about to make a fresh start in life as they pose for the camera at the entrance of St Mary's Church, Frampton-on-Severn.

But just over seven years after this picture was taken, Mrs Prout vanished - sparking a massive police hunt which left a cloud of suspicion over Redmarley, in the Forest.

They believe the most likely explanation for her disappearance is that she was murdered.

Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly, said: "We are going to give people in the village a chance to know we are coming, rather than turn up on their doorstep.

"We are firmly following a number of lines of inquiry. It's worth saying again that 30 people are still committed to the investigation.

"We are not winding down."

She was last heard of on November 5, 2007 and reported missing five days later by Mr Prout, 45.

She took no money, cash cards, clothes, or a car from their Redhill Farm home when she disappeared.

Around 200 acres of farmland around their £1.2 million property was scoured by more than 50 officers - but nothing was found.

They emptied a grain store, went through a pile of bark chippings, dived in ponds and a reservoir.

Even Eddie, the specialist sniffer "cadaver dog" who took part in the search for Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her. (***Blogger note: Eddie found cadaver scent in Prout home. In November 2011, Adrian Prout confessed to murdering Kate.)

An impassioned plea for information from one of her brothers, Richard Wakefield, from Far Oakridge, Stroud, drew no new clues.

Mr Prout ran a groundworks company and more recently pheasant shoots, and residents in Cam and Dursley, where water pipes were laid, have also been questioned.

One villager claimed residents told police that shortly before Mrs Prout's disappearance, the couple argued in the Rose and Crown pub in the village, and were planning to divorce and split the farm.

Twice Mr Prout has been arrested on suspicion of murder, held and questioned. And twice he has been released. He is on bail until September 9.

Three other people - Diane Bellamy, 48, from Bisley, Rose and Crown landlord Eric Woolley, 60, and a 43-year-old man, from Lydney, have been arrested, questioned and released without charge. Their bail has been cancelled.

Earlier this month the officer in charge of the case, acting detective superintendent Neil Kelly, announced in an open letter to the residents of Redmarley that his officers would be heading back to re-interview them, as some believed Mrs Prout had disappeared of her own volition.

He believes all the available evidence points to her being murdered.

And he told The Citizen that although they have not given up on finding Mrs Prout, the force would consider a prosecution without a body.

Today, and over the weekend, police will knock on doors again in Redmarley, a day later than originally planned.

Few in the village knew the couple well but she helped with flower arranging in the Redmarley church and enjoyed walking her dogs around Redhill Farm.

A retired teacher of 20 years' standing, she enjoyed gardening and was propagating a blueberry plantation on the farm.

But at the beginning of November, her seemingly peaceful rural existence came to an abrupt halt.

She was said to be happy and showed no signs of anything amiss when she visited Mr Wakefield and his wife Linda on November 2. She spoke to her again on November 5.

Police say the last time they knew she was alive was at 3.30pm on that day, when she spoke to her bank.

Her disappearance has left villagers confused and concerned.

"We are just wondering what extra we can say," said one villager, who did not wish to be named.

"But as time goes by, it just melts into the background.

"We have no problems with the police coming back if it brings a solution to the problem.

"The village itself is just in limbo.

"We would really like to know, one way or the other, what has happened.

"The farm is working, Mr Prout is keeping going - that's his right, it's his livelihood."

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Villagers living in fear that missing farmer's wife was killed by someone they know

Villagers living in fear that missing farmer's wife was killed by someone they know

The Times
Simon De Bruxelles
10 May 2008

It is Kate Prout's favourite time of year in the village of Redmarley D'Abitot, with wild flowers in the hedgerows and blossom trees in the well kept Gloucestershire gardens.

Yet Mrs Prout is not there to enjoy it. Today is exactly six months since her husband, Adrian, contacted police to say that he had not seen his wife for five days and she appeared to have gone missing.

It is unusual, but not unprece- dented, for middle-aged woman to leave their husbands without telling them where they are going. But Mrs Prout took nothing with her, not her purse and credit cards, nor her mobile telephone, her passport or any clothes, nor did she leave a note. She did not say goodbye to any members of her large and close-knit family.

What makes the disappearance of the retired teacher even more unusual is that the police do not believe she went anywhere. They are convinced that she has been murdered and that they know who did it: they just have not found the evidence - or her body - to prove it.

At 45, Adrian Prout is ten years his wife's junior. The couple married eight years ago when Kate was approaching the age at which her family wondered whether she would ever find the right man.

Both Kate and her new husband, who had been married before, came from farming backgrounds but had made their careers elsewhere. She had spent 20 years teaching in primary schools around Gloucestershire before taking early retirement in her forties.He had a successful business digging trenches and laying pipes.

Four years ago the couple bought Redhill Farm in Redmarley D'Abitot, a village between the Malvern Hills and the Cotswolds.Mrs Prout devoted herself to country life, arranging flowers in the church, walking their four dogs and transforming the garden.

Her husband set up two pheasant shoots and jealously guarded his privacy. One villager met him for the first time as she walked her dog. She said: "He was shouting at me to get off his land. He was really angry. I have been shouted at before but usually they calm down, you get chatting and you sort it out. That didn't happen."

The villager was so disturbed she talked to the farmer's wife. She said: "She was very nervous, cowed even. I could see that she wasn't happy."

Other residents have told police that shortly before Mrs Prout's disappearance, the couple argued in the local pub, the Rose and Crown, and were planning to divorce. They had recently had the farm valued at Pounds 1.2 million and Mrs Prout was expecting to take half of it.

On November 2 Mrs Prout drove to the village of Far Oakridge to visit her brother Richard Wakefield and his wife, Linda. She appeared happy and gave no indication that there was anything wrong. On November 5, Bonfire Night, she spoke to Linda in the afternoon and again seemed cheerful.

Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly, who is leading the inquiry, said: "The last time at which we know she was alive was at 3.30pm that afternoon when she made a telephone call to her bank."

It was not long before officers came to the "presumption of death" and the missing person's inquiry became a murder hunt. Mr Kelly said: "The investigation was categorised as a murder inquiry fairly early on because of the failure of all our inquiries to establish that Kate Prout was still alive.

"There was no motive for her to disappear of her own volition. The only reasonable conclusion is that she is no longer alive."

For weeks a team of 50 officers searched the area around the farm for any sign of a body. A digger was used to excavate tonnes of wood chippings from a forestry site and divers probed the muddy depths of the ponds.

Sophisticated surveying equipment was brought in to look for recently disturbed ground. But not even Eddie, the specialist sniffer dog who took part in the search for Madeleine McCann, could find any trace of her. (***Blogger note: Eddie found cadaver scent in Prout home. In November 2011, Adrian Prout confessed to murdering Kate.)


From the outset, Mr Prout was the prime suspect. He was arrested on suspicion of murder but released because all the searches had drawn a blank. In February he was arrested again after "further information" came to light, including that Mr Prout had a 48-year-old girlfriend who was also arrested and questioned. She was later released without charge.

According to a police source he denied any knowledge of her where- abouts but showed little interest or concern about her possible fate, or that he was being questioned on suspicion of her murder. The source said: "If he killed her he had five days to cover his tracks. You can do a lot in five days."

Mr Prout, who was released on bail until September 9, is unwilling to discuss his status as a suspected murderer. He declined to open the gates at the entrance to the farm and said over the intercom: "No thank you, I have got nothing to say. No comment."

Redmarley D'Abitot's 650 residents are upset and divided by Mrs Prout's disappearance and the possibility that they could have a murderer living in their midst.

One elderly woman said: "There's still a lot of deference to landowners and many people are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt or believe it's 50-50 that she just left him. But the others just think that's a joke, and of course he did her in for her money and could well get away with it."

Mr Kelly said: "We are reviewing the investigation but we can't resume searching at Redhill Farm unless some new evidence comes to light. We still have 30 officers working on the case. We have no intention of giving up."

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Biggest search in force history

Biggest search in force history
The Citizen
6 February 2010

It was a missing person search which soon turned to a murder inquiry.

Everything Kate possessed was left behind at Redhill Farm. Her keys, car, passport, money, bank cards, handbag, shoes and clothes remained as they were when she was last seen on November 5, 2007.

A total 2,200 councils, police forces, the NHS, and government departments have no record of her existence since that day. She has not touched her £700-a-month teacher's pension.

She kept in regular touch with her family, placed flowers on her parents' graves, and made a note of family and friends' birthdays so that she would not forget to send a card.

But police could not find any evidence of her existence continuing after November 5. Newly released pictures from the police of their home show a farmhouse full of home comforts and a feminine touch; from satin bed covers to a Welsh dresser full of china and pictures of animals on the wall. Kate loved her pet dogs.

On November 14 Gloucestershire Constabulary launched one of its biggest searches for a missing person in its history, calling in specially-trained search officers from other forces to help to comb the 276-acre Redhill Farm and surrounding area.

Bound by the M50 motorway, the A417 and the River Leadon, the search area covered a radius centred on the farm of 1.5km to 2km.

Up to 50 search officers, including some from Gwent and West Mercia forces, went over subdivided sectors of the search area at least twice with broomsticks and specially-designed probes.

A sniffer dog called Eddie, which took part in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, could not find any trace of her either. (***Blogger note: Eddie found cadaver scent in Prout home. In November 2011, Adrian Prout confessed to murdering Kate.)

The area was photographed from the air to try and identify recently-disturbed ground, a pile of woodchips and a grain store were searched.

The grain was removed to another site by tractors and trailers and put back once officers were satisfied her body was not in the grain store.

Avon and Somerset police divers searched two ponds at the farm, while Thames Valley police frogmen trawled a reservoir used as a water source for a garden centre, north east of the farm.

Vehicles at the farm, including Kate's Mitsubishi and Mr Prout's Jaguar were forensically examined, as was the farm house.

A forensic biologist was called in to carry out a more detailed examination but no blood was found, DS Christopher Ellis told the trial on January 21. He said there was also no sign of forced entry.

Operation Texas, as it was known, saw a huge desk-based hunt for her too - thousands of organisations were contacted as to Kate Prout's whereabouts and of the 2,000 who replied, none had records of her.

Those included Interpol, the UK Border Agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, DVLA, local councils, Land Registry, TV licensing, the NHS, dentists, private healthcare providers, utilities, mobile phone operators, Ebay, social networking sites, charities for the homeless and loyalty card organisations.

She was also marked down as a "watched passenger" by the UK Border Agency.

But all this soon pointed the finger of suspicion at her husband.

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm

Eddie and Keela, the two sniffer British dogs used to find evidences of Madeleine's death, in Portugal were used by the police in the searches of Kate Prout.

Joana Morais Blog 

15 January 2008

WE ARE SURE KATE WAS MURDERED - DETECTIVES

Police now believe missing farmer Kate Prout was murdered.

Officers have refused to rule out the possibility the 55-year-old from Redmarley may have come to harm.

They say the possibility she has been murdered is stronger than ever.

Although investigations at her Redhill Farm home finished a fortnight ago it is understood specialist sniffer dogs used in the search for missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal have been used in the investigation and found evidence of Mrs Prout's death.

Det Supt Neil Kelly said specialist dogs had been used but could not comment on what was found.

Mrs Prout disappeared on November 5 last year. Mrs Prout vanished from her home on Bonfire Night, but her husband Adrian did not report her missing until November 10.

A 45-year-old man, believed to be Mr Prout, was arrested in connection with the case and remains on police bail.

Acting Det Supt Neil Kelly said that Gloucestershire Police had gathered no evidence to suggest she was still alive.

He said: "A very thorough search of the land surrounding Mrs Prout's home has been concluded but the investigation remains very much open. Despite exhaustive efforts, however, we have unfortunately not discovered any evidence to suggest that Mrs Prout is alive and that she disappeared of her own volition.

"We fear, therefore, that either some harm has befallen her accidentally or that she has been murdered. Had the former occurred, we believe it likely that she would have been discovered by now, and as a result, we fear more strongly than ever that she has been murdered."

Continue Reading... Labels: Adrian Prout, Eddie, Kate Prout, Keela, Madeleine McCann, Martin Grime, Redhill Farm