Deceased/Not Found UK - Margaret Fleming, 19, Inverclyde, Scotland, 17 Dec 1999 *Guilty*

MelmothTheLost

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Strange one, this.

Police hunting for a vulnerable woman reported missing six weeks ago are to dig up a garden amid fears she ‘may have come to harm’


Police are to dig up a garden as they search for a woman who was reported missing six weeks ago - after it was revealed she has not been seen by anyone but her carers for 17 years.

'Vulnerable' Margaret Fleming, 36, who has learning difficulties, was reported missing by her two carers from her home in Inverkip in Inverclyde on October 28.

But now detectives from Police Scotland's major investigations team have established that, apart from her carers, the last independent sighting of Ms Fleming was at a family gathering on December 17, 1999.

Police say they are keeping an open mind but believe she 'may have come to some harm'.

Officers say she has few contactable friends or family and checks on education, employment, health and welfare records have shown no trace of her.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ble-woman-reported-missing-six-weeks-ago.html
 
My immediate thoughts on this....
Carers bumped her off 17 yrs ago, been claiming her benefits and living in her home all this time, DLA has been changed over to PIP which means assessments and meetings...panic and make up a story about her going missing
 
Wow, how awful to not have any friends or family have any contact in 17 years, that is really sad :(
 
This story has been picked up by most of the MSM in Scotland today.
 
I don't understand how no-one can have seen or spoken to her for so long. I really hope she is newly missing, as it breaks my heart to think of someone being gone.
I hope surly the police can answer this really easily though.
Have family tried to contact her?
Have her carers remained the same for 17 years? I find it hard to imagine no-one left, or was switched teams. What about when the carers took annual leave, a replacement would be sent. Also the care package she had would have to be re-assessed regularly to see it was still suitable for her needs.

I struggle to see how she could be missing for so long, I think this is fairly recent. But scary to think they have dug up her garden so quickly.
 
My immediate thoughts on this....
Carers bumped her off 17 yrs ago, been claiming her benefits and living in her home all this time, DLA has been changed over to PIP which means assessments and meetings...panic and make up a story about her going missing

Unfortunately that does sound very plausible. She sounds doubly vulnerable given she seems to have had no close family who might keep in touch.
 
Have her carers remained the same for 17 years?

Sky suggests they have:

Margaret Fleming, 36, was reported missing on 28 October by two carers who are the only people to see her since 1999.

http://news.sky.com/story/garden-dug-up-in-search-for-missing-margaret-fleming-10693834

I'd be surprised though if she hasn't at least seen a doctor or dentist in 17 years.

According to The Scotsman, Margaret "moved in with carers" in 1999, which if correct suggests that she was living with them rather than them moving into a property that was hers.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/missin...-seen-by-independent-source-in-1999-1-4315981

That makes me wonder again how severe her learning disabilities were since the arrangement seems to suggest very long term or lifelong care needs with no prospect of her being able to cope with some sort of sheltered or group housing arrangement.

I suspect there's a lot yet to come out about this case because it feels decidely iffy.
 
Wow, this is bad:

Officers first learned she was missing after going to the house "with social services" on what was described as a "routine inquiry" in October.

Senior officers believe Margaret is dead and have all but ruled out claims she led a mystery double-life, dating men and meeting friends.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/742733/Missing-woman-Margaret-Fleming-police-body-search

If the Express is correct, she was never reported missing by the carers. Her disappearance was discovered almost by accident.

Poor Margaret.
 
I think the house which is being investigated is one of the three shown in this shot, and more particularly that it's the southernmost one of the three.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...x924f7492e90cbc8b!8m2!3d55.907032!4d-4.870339

My guess is based on the shot shown in the BBC Scotland report where the house is photographed through/under an overhanging tree:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38288920

This southernmost house of the three also looks to be delapidated with a hint through the tree on Streetview of the small white lean-to shown in the photograph on the BBC Scotland website.

That is just so isolated, in the middle of nowhere really, with the Clyde estuary at the bottom of the garden and a patch of woodland right next door to the south.
 
I think the house which is being investigated is one of the three shown in this shot, and more particularly that it's the southernmost one of the three.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place...x924f7492e90cbc8b!8m2!3d55.907032!4d-4.870339

My guess is based on the shot shown in the BBC Scotland report where the house is photographed through/under an overhanging tree:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-38288920

This southernmost house of the three also looks to be delapidated with a hint through the tree on Streetview of the small white lean-to shown in the photograph on the BBC Scotland website.

That is just so isolated, in the middle of nowhere really, with the Clyde estuary at the bottom of the garden and a patch of woodland right next door to the south.

From the above link:
"Officers want to hear from anyone who knew Ms Fleming from her college days.
Ms Fleming, who is believed to have learning difficulties, is thought to have attended James Watt College in Greenock between 1996 and 1998.
"

It is so hard for me to imagine that someone can attend college while she also has severe enough learning disabilities where she needs full-time carers. Not trying to pretend I know a whole lot about learning disabilities, so please someone do explain to me how this is possible. Thanks.
 
Sky suggests they have:



http://news.sky.com/story/garden-dug-up-in-search-for-missing-margaret-fleming-10693834

I'd be surprised though if she hasn't at least seen a doctor or dentist in 17 years.

According to The Scotsman, Margaret "moved in with carers" in 1999, which if correct suggests that she was living with them rather than them moving into a property that was hers.

http://www.scotsman.com/news/missin...-seen-by-independent-source-in-1999-1-4315981

That makes me wonder again how severe her learning disabilities were since the arrangement seems to suggest very long term or lifelong care needs with no prospect of her being able to cope with some sort of sheltered or group housing arrangement.

I suspect there's a lot yet to come out about this case because it feels decidely iffy.

But I wonder who put this care package in place? It must have been a private arrangement?
 
But I wonder who put this care package in place? It must have been a private arrangement?

I'm thinking that, difficult teenager packed off to live with a relative maybe? Or more sinister sent to live as a home help "slave".

@LegallyBland, thanks for adding to UK list
 
Sorry, should have read the BBC article before posting:

It is believed Ms Fleming lived with her father in Port Glasgow before he died in October 1995.
She then lived with her grandparents and mother but moved in with carers, who were close family friends, in 1997.
She is thought to have been estranged from her mother since then.
 
I'm thinking that, difficult teenager packed off to live with a relative maybe? Or more sinister sent to live as a home help "slave".

@LegallyBland, thanks for adding to UK list

It's a horrible strange situation that I just can't even begin to come up with a situation in my head. None of this makes any sense at all.
 
"DCI Livingstone added: 'There's no evidence of any crime being committed...'" (from the earlier linked Daily Fail article) but yet they are digging up the garden??

:thinking:
 

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