18th July 2012

BEAMINSTER: Pair found dead in Beaminster Tunnel

GRUESOME DISCOVERY MADE ON MONDAY NIGHT

CAR LAY UNDISCOVERED FOR MORE THAN A WEEK

A BODY has been found in a car buried for ten days under mud at the mouth of the partially collapsed Beaminster Tunnel, writes PAUL CROMPTON.

The car registered to a missing Taunton man in his 70s was recovered from beneath hundreds of tonnes of mud and bricks yesterday, Tuesday, July 17th.

Dorset Police believe the body of missing Crewkerne woman Rosemary Snell – who is in her 60s - will also be discovered once the car has been cleared of debris.

The retired couple had just begun a romance at the time of the horrific accident.

The man’s body had lay undiscovered in the car since July 7th, before it was excavated from the land slide at the northern end of the tunnel.

The road was closed and a cordon put in place while emergency service staff excavated the vehicle.

A police spokesman said on Tuesday it was too early to speculate about the outcome but families have been informed and were being supported by family liaison officers.

The pair had been missing for more than a week before detectives searching for the pair discovered the crushed car on Monday, July 16th.

The car was excavated by Dorset Fire Service crews yesterday (Tuesday).

Dorset Police’s Assistant Chief Constable James Vaughan, leading the investigation, said: “We have found the body of a man so far. We are making the reasonable assumption that it is the missing man.

“We have linked the car with the missing couple from Somerset.

“They are retired and they are a couple, a relatively new item.

“We cannot confirm but we suspect, because we have no reasonable explanation for where Mrs Snell is, she will be found in the car.”

Concerns began to grow for the couple when they were reported missing by friends and family on the weekend of July 7th.

By the end of the week police started scrutinising telephone records and bank details in their hunt for the couple and it was discovered they had been to Beaminster.

Avon and Somerset Police then asked Dorset Police to check the area of Beaminster Tunnel.

Beaminster resident Douglas Beazer – who took pictures of the tunnel shortly after the mudslide - said he was shocked that nobody had discovered the bodies quicker.

He said: “The timing must have been crystal because they must have been there when the debris came down.

“There was about eight to ten feet of debris there.When I went down there I couldn’t see anything at all. I took some photographs and I didn’t notice anything at all.

“It’s very sad to hear about the two people. After the mudslide residents have been saying it was lucky nobody was hurt. I was just surprised we had not heard that anybody was missing before.”

Beaminster Tunnel has been closed because of structural damage since the worst flash floods in more than three decades hit the town on July 7th. The deluge caused the mudslide.

A Dorset Police spokesman said at around 6.30pm on Monday, July 16th that the fire and rescue service were contacted by Avon and Somerset police regarding the partial collapse of Beaminster Tunnel.

“Crews were subsequently sent to investigate the area, and following a period of excavation discovered a vehicle under a large volume of earth and mud.

“At around 7.20pm yesterday, police were advised that fire and rescue service personnel had discovered a car outside Beaminster tunnel.”