Staffordshire
WS15 2UQ
History
In the 1960’s at least 3 young girls were horrifically murdered and all found within a mile of each other – Christine Darby aged 7, Margaret Reynolds aged 6 and Diana Joy Tift aged 5. These murders were known as either the Cannock chase Murders or the A34 Murders.
The man thought to be behind these murders was Raymond Leslie Morris, who served 45 years in prison (one of the longest British serving convict) for the murder of Christine Darby (aged 7) before passing away in prison in March of 2014 (the year the sightings took place) aged 84. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough evidence to convict him for the other 2 girl’s murders but he was the chief suspect as all 3 cases were very similar.
On the 12th January 1966, the bodies of Margaret Reynolds (went missing on the way to school on the 8th September 1965) found at Manstry Gully and Diana Tift (went missing near her grandma’s house 30th December 19650 where found on Cannock Chase – both being sexually assaulted and left for dead.
On the 22nd of august 1967 the body Christine Darby was found by a soldier who was helping with the search for her, a mile away from the other 2 girls.
Investigators believed all 3 was lured into a car by Raymond Morris.
On the 1st December 1964, a young girl called Julia Taylor aged 9 was lured into a car by a man claiming to be a friend of her mother she was then sexually assaulted then strangled and left for dead, fortunately a passing cyclist found her and was saved.
On the 18th of January 1969 Raymond Morris appeared in court for the rape and murder of Christine Darby as there was an eye witness who told the police the registration number of the car that abducted Christine Darby which lead them back to him (he’d already been questioned 4 times in just as many years over the other 2 girls).
While the hearing was being carried out which Julia Taylor attended she was removed from the court after shouting out ‘that was the man that did it to me’.
Raymond Morris was sentenced to life imprisonment, in 2010 he applied for his case to be reviewed but it failed, he then abandoned the efforts of an appeal then died 4 years later of natural causes.
Reported Activity
In 2014 numerous accounts of sightings and interactions with a young girl aged around 10 years old with black eyes was reported – one woman saying that she heard screaming of a young girl, her and her daughter went looking for someone in trouble to no avail and turned and a young girl was stood behind her with her hands over her eyes and she asked the girl if it was her screaming and if she was in trouble, the girl said nothing and lowered her hands to reveal blacker than black eyes and as she turned to hold her daughter close to her as it was a scare the young girl had vanished.
