Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
News
Original poster

Margaret Fleming- missing for 17 years?!

226 replies

Beebeeeight · 12/12/2016 18:28

A woman with learning disabilities was reported missing 6 weeks ago, apparently after the DWP knocked on her door.

She lived with 2 carers and was reported to be a recluse.

But now it is being reported that no one else has seen her since 1999 and the police are digging up the garden.

I know mn has rules about not speculating but

OP posts:
Original poster
Beebeeeight · 12/12/2016 23:09

Bump

OP posts:
Sweetandsour93 · 13/12/2016 05:09

I just read about this, such a strange case! It says in the news that the carers suggest she had a private life that they were unaware of but how could nobody in the area have not seen her outside at all? Sad Whatever has happened, it's tragic that a person could be unnoticed for so long.

Original poster
Beebeeeight · 13/12/2016 23:04

So much for 'community care'.

I hope, if nothing else this chafes the way vulnerable adults are protected.

OP posts:
SouthernComforts · 13/12/2016 23:20

So strange.

"An ongoing search of the house in Main Road which belonged to her carers, a man in his 70s and a woman in her 50s, will now extend into the garden"

So, she lived with the carers, not vice versa? Or are they just searching thier house?

Also, one report states she DID go out, but wouldn't tell the carers details. How can you step foot outside without being seen in 17 years Confused

SouthernComforts · 13/12/2016 23:22

Also, no record of her on 'health and welfare' checks.. so privately funded or voluntary carers then, not an official or NHS funded service.

AgentProvocateur · 13/12/2016 23:29

She has lived with the carers in their house since 1997, I think. She lived with her dad, and when he died, moved in with her mum and granny. That relationship fell apart and she moved in with the "carers". So sad that no-one's missed her or thought of her since 1999. Sad

SouthernComforts · 13/12/2016 23:55

Yep Sad

Original poster
Beebeeeight · 15/12/2016 00:30

It sounds like the police are trying to build a circumstantial case- like suzanne pilley.

If she's been living there there'd be loads of dna.

I don't think she'll ever be found.

OP posts:
Manumission · 15/12/2016 00:37

Sounds bizarre. The couple were apparently wealthy hoteliers, not career carers and not relatives either.

Pluto30 · 15/12/2016 00:38

Very likely that her carers know what happened.

This isn't an unprecedented situation, unfortunately.

myoriginal3 · 15/12/2016 00:40

Anyone got a link

Manumission · 15/12/2016 00:41

The extra horrible dimension is that presumably the motive for whatever has happened wasn't financial.

CatsAndCocktails · 15/12/2016 00:45

I always find it sad when people go so long without being missed.

PuppetInParadize · 15/12/2016 01:09

You'd find details on BBC News Scotland. It's West area (near Greenock in fact). Really sad - and odd story.

HerrenaHarridan · 15/12/2016 01:12

www.scotland.police.uk/whats-happening/missingpersons/margaret-fleming

It doesn't say she hasn't been seen for 17 years on here

Redglitter · 15/12/2016 02:31

That hasn't been updated in several weeks though Herrena If you Google it you'll get the latest updates which all confirm no one's seen her since Dec 1999

brokentoaster · 15/12/2016 02:40

This is one of those stories where you just go uh??! Not seen for 17 years EXCEPT by her carers whose house and grounds the police are suddenly scouring and digging up? Was she alive in those 17 years and only being seen by the carers (without a single Drs' visit, dental) check, flu jab etc...) or did she disappear long before - all VERY strange!

AgentProvocateur · 15/12/2016 09:37

The police have been all round the (close-knit, small) town of inverkip, going door-to-door and no one has ever seen her. Ever.

The knock on the door that started this whole thing off was the police on a DWP issue, so presumably money had gone into her account for all these years.

Manumission · 15/12/2016 09:40

She was reported (recently) missing after the DWP-related police enquiry!?

LunaLoveg00d · 15/12/2016 09:45

This has been headline news in Scotland for a few days now. The people this missing woman were living with were connected to the family - friends or distant relatives probably - and they were caring for the woman in the sense that they may have been getting carers benefits rather than in the sense that they were professional care workers running a care home.

It is very scary that someone can drop off the face of the earth for 17 years and not be missed - even if you're not keen on leaving the house in 17 years you'd expect someone to go to the GP, or dentist, or take a book out of the library, or have some sort of contact with people outside the home.

Manumission · 15/12/2016 09:48

People who are still alive do inevitably do some of those things sooner or later, I would have thought Sad

AgentProvocateur · 15/12/2016 09:56

Yes, the police/dwp went to the door and the "carers" said she was out. They then reported her missing later that day.

Manumission · 15/12/2016 09:58

Gosh. It doesn't sound like a desperately clever cover-up does it?

Poor girl.

Original poster
Beebeeeight · 15/12/2016 22:04

What I also find peculiar is that the only 2 photos of Margaret look like someone much yyounger than 36.

The 'best' case scenario is that she genuinely went missing all those years ago and the carers committed fraud by continuing to claim her benefits.

It could be an awful lot of money- incapacity benefit, dla, housing benefit, then the carers allowance etc. Could easily be £100sthousands by now.

OP posts:
LunaLoveg00d · 15/12/2016 22:09

Doesn't it mean though that now, in 2016, she'd be 36. If the pictures are from 1999 when she was last seen by her family, she'd be 19.