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Giving names and faces to the unknown dead
I met the investigators working for years to trace people who die without anyone to identify them
Lucy Nash
February 19, 2025
Hi Sparkies,
Before I begin, a quick note: the story I want to tell today involves mentions of suicide. If that’s upsetting for you, take care and I’ll see you next week.
Just over 20 years ago, a petite woman of Afro-Caribbean ethnicity, carrying £5.20, a large oil painting and a bus pass entered a glass office block in northwest London called Wembley Point. She bought a newspaper from a shop inside the building and took the lift to the 21st floor. There she walked confidently through to a café where she ordered a coffee, sat down, smoked a cigarette, then opened a window and jumped out.
The police retrieved her body but found nothing that could help identify her. Where did she come from? Why did she jump? Who knew her? The cafe was a workplace canteen, not a public business – how was she so familiar with the building? And why was she carrying an oil painting?
Over time, the police investigation stalled. The death was ruled a suicide, with no evidence of third-party involvement or foul play. That might have been the end of the case, if an organisation called Locate International hadn’t stepped in to see if it could uncover anything new.
I’ve known about Locate International for a while, but I’ve only recently properly looked into its work. It’s a charity dedicated to locating the missing and identifying the unidentified. When police investigations reach a dead end, Locate steps in to review everything afresh, applying investigative techniques to see if its team can solve more of the puzzle.
This is what happened in the case of the woman who jumped from Wembley Point. Roland Hughes, who works at Locate, spoke to me about their approach: “We’re slow, we’re deliberate, we’re rigorous, we’re thorough, and we make no assumptions about what might have happened. We revisit every single detail and scrutinise absolutely everything from scratch.”
 An artist’s impression of the Wembley Point woman | For example, they examined the bus pass she carried. It was valid for seven days, suggesting she either travelled the route regularly or planned to use it again. It still had two days left on it when she died. Locate International traced the purchase of the pass to a small newsagent’s on Seven Sisters Road in north London, potentially indicating where she lived or had a community. Then there was the painting she carried. It was mostly abstract, featuring different faces. The central figure was featureless, entirely blank and white, and surrounded by patterns that appeared influenced by tribal art. A woman in the painting peered at this blank figure with an expression of fear. Why was the woman who jumped carrying this artwork? Had she attended a community art class? If so, wouldn’t someone have noticed her sudden absence? |
They also sought witnesses who could have encountered her. One person came forward to say they had spoken to her a couple of weeks before her death and that she was upset about her boyfriend’s health. At the time of her death, she was wearing a distinctive cowrie shell ring, often linked to fertility. Did this suggest she and her boyfriend were struggling to conceive?
Roland told me that many cases haunt the volunteers at Locate, all of whom give their time for free. In this case, he said, “She came to me in a dream and told me what her name was … she was so vivid to me.” I asked Roland why he became involved with Locate International. He explained that in 2010, while working as a journalist in the Middle East, a colleague of his went missing in India. “It was very sudden and very strange, and is still unresolved to this day.” |  Roland Hughes |
Roland later wrote about his missing colleague for BBC News.
That experience opened his eyes to the scale of missing persons cases. “A number of people I knew spoke to me after I published that piece, saying, ‘Oh yeah, I had a cousin who went missing, never seen again.’ ” It was these conversations that drove him to join Locate and help bring answers to families of the missing and unidentified.
This newsletter usually focuses on investigative journalism sparking big change. While Locate International isn’t a newsroom, their work is deeply investigative and has a profound impact. Roland shared some exclusive figures with me about what they achieved in 2024:
Locate International has 208 active volunteers, who contributed 18,840 hours of work
They reviewed 264 cold cases: 174 involving unidentified people and 90 missing persons
They submitted potential matches for 10 unidentified individuals that are now waiting for review by the authorities
They successfully resolved 30 missing persons cases.
Although the woman who jumped from Wembley Point remains unidentified, Locate International will keep chipping away at the case. As Roland put it, “Somebody, somewhere must know who she is and what her story is.”
The vanished are never exactly the same as those who were lost
Victoria Shepherd is the co-head of investigations at Locate International, where she’s been working on cases for more than two years |  Victoria Shepherd |
“I joined Locate International in September 2022. I started as a joint team leader in the investigation team, and now, two and a half years later, I’m an investigation manager and co-head of investigations. Most of my time is spent overseeing cases and supporting volunteers, but I also play a strategic role in shaping the organisation’s direction.
I first heard about Locate International through a podcast. I was fascinated by their work and mission but wasn’t sure they’d be interested in me as a volunteer. Still, I applied, had some conversations, and got involved. Organisation is key in my role – I oversee a large number of diverse cases and support many volunteers. But beyond skills, what really matters is caring about the cases, the people, and their families. Many of these cases have been neglected for decades, and we take pride in revisiting them and seeking answers.
 An artist’s impression of the St Helier woman | One case that has stayed with me is St Helier Woman. She died in St Helier Hospital in 2006, likely arriving in the UK from Ghana carrying packages of cocaine in her stomach. One of the packages burst. She was dropped off outside the hospital by someone who left her there. She lived for a short time, giving a name and date of birth, though we don’t know if they were real. I think about how scared and alone she must have been – possibly in pain, in an unfamiliar country, and afraid of both the authorities and the people who sent her. |
Unidentified cases can take years. Nobody else is looking at these cases. We work meticulously, gathering as much information as possible, often leading to media appeals. Sometimes, we receive tips from specialists or members of the public, giving an investigation a new lease of life. If a case remains unsolved, we compile everything into a central review document, like adding pieces to a jigsaw puzzle that might one day be completed.
Our relationship with police forces is evolving. We’re formalising agreements that allow them to refer cases to us, and many active and retired officers volunteer with Locate. We align our case management with police processes, ensuring that when we do hand over evidence, it’s in a format they recognise.
Our volunteers come from all walks of life, but they’re united by a shared commitment – to make sure no one is forgotten.”
I find the work Locate International does deeply moving. It reminds me that there are a lot of ways to put the investigative techniques that journalism relies on to use, and to do good while doing it.
That’s what we’re also trying to do where I work, TBIJ, in finding the investigative stories that will change things for the better. That could be exposing poor quality medicines and inspiring researchers to make new tests, or bringing stories surpressed by legal threats to Parliament, so victims can finally make their voices heard.
The costs of this work, though, are mounting. If you can support us by becoming one of our members, it makes a world of difference – and makes this newsletter more sustainable.
Until next time!
Lucy Nash |  |