The Vanishing of Trevaline Evans: A Welsh Mystery

This episode explores the baffling disappearance of Trevaline Evans, a respected antiques shop owner from Llangollen, Wales, who vanished without a trace in June 1990.

We examine her life, the events of the day she disappeared, and the investigation that followed. The episode also considers the many theories that have emerged over the years — from possible foul play to speculation about those closest to her, including her husband.

Despite decades of enquiries, Trevaline’s case remains unsolved, leaving an enduring mystery and a haunting question: what really happened to her?

Where You Can Find Us

Follow us on Instagram — @welshmysteries and on TikTok — @welshmysteries

If you enjoy the podcast or find value in what we do, you can support us by buying a coffee through our Ko-Fi account.

Work With UsIf there’s a particular case you’d like me to cover, please get in touch via email.

kay@kay-page.com

Tags

true, crime, police, law, murder, missing, criminology, true crime podcast, criminal, true crime community, true crime Uk, Wales, Welsh stories, history, welsh mysteries, myths, missing people, Welsh true, crime, police, law, murder, criminology, TrueCrimePodcast, criminal, truecrimecommunity, TrueCrimeUK, CrimeConUK, Wales, WelshStories, WelshHistory, Histories, Mysteries, Myth, Folklore, Cymru 

Transcript

It’s the summer of 1990, June to be exact, and our story takes place in North Wales. In a small, picturesque market town called Lla ngollen. 

Llangollen is the kind of place that feels almost too picturesque to be real. Tucked into the Dee Valley in North Wales, it’s a small town surrounded by rolling green hills, ancient stone bridges, and the fast-moving River Dee. Known for its charm, its steam railway, and the famous International Eisteddfod — a Welsh music and poetry festival — Llangollen is a town that blends history with harmony.

In 1990, it was a close-knit community where everyone knew each other, and strangers rarely went unnoticed. It was the last place anyone expected something to happen — or someone to vanish without a trace

The town is bustling with its usual weekend life, but in the heart of it, the local antiques shop is unusually closed. 

That morning, its owner, Trevaline Evans, had opened it as she usually did, a friend had dropped in, and some customers had been served by her. However, it is now early afternoon, and the store’s door bears a note that simply reads: “Back in two minutes.” 

Several customers browse the bric-a-brac boxes outside, some of whom post money for items through the shop’s doorway. It’s a slightly unusual – but not yet concerning – situation. 

But that quickly changed because her last known movements remain as ambiguous today as they were over three decades ago. Because even now, 35 years later, Trevaline Evans remains missing.

Unbeknownst to that small, North Walian market town, that note, and the slightly strange incident it represents, is about to spark one of Wales’ most baffling mysteries. And on that fateful day, an enduring mystery had begun.  

MUSIC

When you think of North Wales, it’s easy to imagine postcard landscapes: rolling green valleys, winding rivers, and clusters of small market towns where history seems to linger in every stone, every building. 

Llangollen, a town of fewer than four thousand people, is one of those places. It sits cradled in the Dee Valley, surrounded by the dramatic backdrop of the Berwyn Mountains. From its narrow streets you can glimpse hillsides dotted with sheep, the distant outlines of ancient ruins, and the shimmering waters of the River Dee as it rushes through the town centre.

Llangollen is not a place you can easily forget. The River Dee, fast-flowing and sometimes ferocious, cuts right through its heart, crossed by a medieval stone bridge that has stood for over 600 years. In the 19th century, the town became a stop for travellers on the new railway, cementing its reputation as a hub for visitors. It had long been associated with art and culture too, thanks in part to the famous “Ladies of Llangollen” — Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby — two women who defied social norms in the late 18th century and lived together in nearby Plas Newydd, creating a cultural salon that drew attention from across Europe.

It is also famous for its International Musical Eisteddfod, a yearly festival that brings performers from around the world to celebrate Welsh culture, language, and song. 

The town is also tied to its canal — the Llangollen Canal — now a UNESCO World Heritage site, with its aqueducts and narrowboats drifting slowly past, offering a picture of quiet rural life. Tourists wander through to admire the half-timbered houses, explore the ruins of Castell Dinas Brân perched high above the valley, or simply to browse the rows of independent shops that line the town’s streets.

In 1990, Llangollen was still very much the same — a town steeped in charm, with an intimacy that came from its size and community. This wasn’t the kind of place where people could disappear without someone noticing. Residents would chat in the local bakeries, nod to each other in passing, and gather in pubs along the riverbank. It was the sort of town where people left their doors unlocked, where faces were familiar and gossip travelled quickly. Against this backdrop, the disappearance of Trevaline Evans struck with the force of something unthinkable — because if someone could vanish here, in the safety of this picturesque little town, then perhaps nowhere was truly safe.

But before we come to that day in June 1990, it’s important to understand Trevaline herself, and the life she lived in the weeks leading up to her disappearance.

On the 6th September 1937, Trevaline Evans was born, but very little else is known about her early life. At the time of her disappearance, she was 52 years old and was considered to be a woman whom many described as graceful and stylish. 

She ran a small antiques and bric-a-brac shop on Church Street, one of the quieter lanes in the centre of Llangollen. 

Her shop reflected her personality — neat, elegant, filled with carefully chosen pieces that told their own stories. To the locals, she wasn’t just another shopkeeper; she was part of the rhythm of the town. Customers would stop in not only to browse her wares but to chat with her, to share news, or simply to enjoy her company.

Another established local, Trevaline and her husband, Richard, had one son together. They had been married for 30 years when she vanished. She had lived in the town for years, and though she and her husband Richard often travelled together, especially in the summers when Richard worked away, Llangollen was home.

From the outside, everything seemed to idyllic. 

The couple had recently purchased a holiday home, and they were in the process of renovating it. In fact, the couple had been staying there in the days before she vanished. 

“Before she disappeared, we – she spent three days up in Rhuddlan, in our holiday bungalow, which I was refurbishing and she was very happy, you know. She liked working up there, she liked the garden,” her husband Richard told Crimewatch in September 1990. 

They were a semi-retired, professional couple. But as is always the case, there is more to the story.

This is the part that surprised me because I had always viewed this as a grand mystery. I had no opinion on what I thought I knew.  

But that all started to shift, particularly when I discovered one source that has been of huge importance to this episode. And that is the Crimewatch episode that featured Trevaline Evans’ case. 

This was broadcast in September 1990, just three months after she had gone missing. It contains information that has been lost or watered down in the years since she vanished. However, due to the timely nature of that episode, I suspect that it is safe to assume that the information is probably more accurate. 

Memory is an unreliable witness; testimonies can change dramatically in a matter of months – let alone years – and the nature of the true crime industry tends to play out like Chinese whispers. With stories, statements and sightings tending to shift and change with the passing of time. To that end, I thought that it was of particular importance that we rely heavily on this contemporary report. 

For those interested in watching that episode themselves, it is on YouTube, and I will include the link to it in the show notes.

As we will explore shortly, Trevaline had returned to Llangollen on the 13th of June 1990, a little before her husband intended to. He had opted to stay in the area of their retirement home for a few more days, with him intending to return to Llangollan on the 16th June 1990. There is little information available about the definitive reason for her early return, but it has been widely speculated and assumed that it is related to the running of her antiques shop. 

The shop itself, named Attic Antiques, was situated on Church Street and had been purchased the year prior.  It was said to have been a source of great pride and joy for Trevaline, as she had been a collector all her life, and the store was the epitome of this. From everything I’ve read, it seems that the store was more of a hobby than a business venture. It was something that she was passionate about and took a huge amount of joy in curating.

By all accounts, she was content in her routines. She enjoyed walking, gardening, and spending time in her shop. Her friends later recalled how she seemed happy, looking forward to the future, and certainly not the kind of person who would simply walk away from her life without reason.

The summer of 1990 had brought with it the usual flow of visitors to the town. Llangollen was alive with energy: the canal boats drifting past, families stopping for ice cream, and the anticipation of the upcoming Eisteddfod building in the background. Tourists meandered down the streets, admiring displays in shop windows — shops like Trevaline’s, which offered treasures that seemed to echo the town’s own sense of history.

For those who knew her, Trevaline was woven into this tapestry of everyday life. Her face was familiar, her presence expected. She was the kind of woman whose absence would be noticed almost immediately, because she was always there — reliable, visible, part of the town’s pulse.

And that’s what makes her disappearance so chilling. 

The beginning of the end was Saturday the 16th June 1990. Two days after she had returned to the village and the day that her husband was due to. I reinforce that because it is vital to the story. 

The town was just waking up to the weekend: shopkeepers sweeping doorways, the smell of fresh bread drifting from the bakery on Castle Street, and early visitors strolling through with the easy pace of a summer’s day. 

That morning, Trevaline pulled up in her blue Ford Escort, parking it just 200 yards away from her store. Trevaline walked into her shop on Church Street, turned the key in the lock, and set about her usual routine.

She arranged her displays, straightened items in the window, and at some point, it has now been suggested that she popped into the corner shop that sat a few doors down from her own. In there, she purchased a bottle of milk and told her sales assistant that she could now maker herself a coffee. 

The interaction was normal, aside from the fact that the cashier noticed that Trevaline had a large wad of cash in her purse. In fact, she had to remove it to find the loose change for the milk.

At 9.30am, she opened the store for the day, this was the standard time that she usually did so. 

It has since been reported that it was a busy day, with it estimated that up to 25 people – both friends and customers – had visited. The police would later report that it was a bright and sunny day, with the town itself said to have been particularly busy. Those who saw her recalled her reported that she was in good spirits, with words like relaxed and happy being commonly used. 

Nothing about her demeanour suggested worry or distraction; if anything, she seemed her usual self — calm, cheerful, and settled into the rhythm of another ordinary day. But it was this morning, the 16th of June 1990, that would become the last confirmed day of her life as anyone knew it.

One of the people who visited the store that morning was a friend of Trevaline’s, her name was Christine. Trevaline made them each a coffee and they chatted for a while. 

She told Crimewatch: “I’ve been a close friend of Trevaline for 11 years now and she was happy, she looked fit and she had lots of plans of things she was going to do. I even popped back to the shop to remind her that we were invited to a party and she was thrilled to be going, you know, and really wanted to go.”

What happened next was to be the defining moment in this case and was the element that has captivated so many people in the years since. Making this one of the most famous missing person cases in Wales.

Because at about 12.40 pm, Trevaline Evans left her shop, attaching a note to the front door which read “back in two minutes”. 

This sighting came from two men, who happened to be driving past the shop when Trevaline was locking it up and walking away. She turned right and walked towards the centre of town.

A few customers stopped by over the course of the afternoon and some even purchased items from the boxes outside of the store. They posted the money through the shop’s letterbox. 

There is a lot of confusion over the timeline following that moment. Some sources seem to report an exact time of departure, while others give an estimation. Some say she returned between then and closing, while others report credible information that seems to dispute this. 

One source suggests that Trevaline was known to have purchased an apple and a banana from the local shop, with the skin having been found in the store’s bin after her disappearance. However, other sources dispute this. 

From what we do know, Trevaline never returned to her store. 

At a11pm, she was reported missing by her husband, who had not been able to locate her. 

The shop was eventually searched, and inside several important – and somewhat telling – items were located, including her handbag and her keys. However, interestingly, it was claimed in the Crimewatch episode that her compact was open on the stores counter. This suggested that she had left in a hurry.

Her car, which was parked 200 yards away from the shop, was untouched, parked in the same location that it had been that morning. 

Following news reports of her strange disappearance, several witnesses were to come forward with information that may be the clue that solves this case. These include sightings on the day she vanished, but some accounts also provide information from the days before. Let’s work through them in chronological order. 

On the 14th of June 1990, two days before she disappeared, a local housewife spotted Trevaline talking to two men outside of the shop. They were stood at the boot end of car, as if, perhaps, the man was showing her some items.

One of them seemed to have come out of the tannery which was opposite. He was the younger of the two

The other man was older, and it seemed to be his car. 

Another witness alleges that they saw Trevaline with a smartly dressed man outside of her store just before she vanished. Based on my calculation this account suggests that this sighting took place on the 15th of June. 

That same evening, another witness claims to have seen Trevaline. 

This couple noticed Trevaline whilst they were driving along Castle Street. They say that she was standing in the doorway of a café, holding a piece of paper and occasionally looking out and into the street to her right. 

The following day, the older man was seen with Trevaline a second time. This time, they were noticed by two people. The first was a local lady who worked in the opticians, and she described the man as being “distinguished”. The second witness, Olga Perra Roberts, worked in the butchery, and she featured in the Crimewatch appal. 

Saying: “Well, it was a Friday morning, I looked through the window and Trevaline passed with this man who was very well dressed in a navy-blue suit and a black briefcase. Trevaline waved, and I just thought how lovely she looked that morning.”

It has since been suggested – in a documentary featuring David Wilson – that this mans identity might be known. 

According to Linda, whom David Wilson interviews in the episode of In the Footsteps of Killers, the “smartly dressed” individual is Trevaline Evans’ brother. And for reasons you’re about to learn, her statement is compelling. 

However, it is worth noting that she is basing that on the photo fit and not on her having seen the person. She produces several images showing the brother, and they do have a striking resemblance to the drawing. 

One of the initial questions that I had was how these witnesses hadn’t identified this man themselves. 

After all, both witnesses to this man, however, knew Trevaline, they were all locals, and if they knew Trevaline, there’s every reason to suggest that they also knew her brother. Surely, if they were able to identify her, they’d have also been able to recognise him? But according to Linda, she can explain this, as she argues that he worked abroad and wasn’t seen locally. 

She then goes on to outline the fact that she had been in a relationship with him, having met him on the 18th of June 1990. Two days after Trevaline had vanished, placing him in the town. They had met at the pub, the Jenny Jones, where she was working.

What is interesting is that brother, Phil, told her a bit about Trevaline. He specifically revealed that her marriage was not happy and she was not content with her home life. And, she told Wilson, it was well known that Richard was a disliked man. 

In the days after Trevaline vanished, Richard would visit the pub, always seeking to talk to Linda. She now wonders if he was seeking information from her about the investigation, perhaps wanting to know how it was developing.

Now, returning to the day of her disappearance, she was sighted by a few people. 

The first of these was at 1 pm, and this sighting places her inside a local shop. In there, she purchased an apple and a banana. 

At 2.30pm, Trevaline is seen on Market Street, with this now considered to be the very last confirmed sighting. This is the same street on which she lived with her husband. And so, interestingly, her last confirmed sighting was in the locality of her home address. 

Her husband later suggested that he had returned home that evening and had raised the alarm on not being able to locate her. However, there are some suggestions that his account might not be entirely true. And that, in fact, he may have returned to the property earlier that day.

David Wilson disclosed, in the documentary, that sources within the police had confirmed this to him. According to this source, the police had received evidence which suggested that Richard had been back in the area earlier than he had previously attested.

It was claimed that witnesses placed Richard in the pub shortly before 2.30pm. That, of course, being around the same time as the last confirmed sighting.

Something interesting, that tends to be overlooked here, is that the combination of where she was last confirmed to have been seen and what was found in her shop. 

We know that she was last seen near her home, but she had left both her car keys and her home keys at the shop. Presumably, if she had gone to her home address, it is very probable that somebody would have needed to let her in. 

There are further sightings from after this timestamp that are worth noting here. However, they are generally not given the same credence as the last confirmed sighting at 2.30 pm. 

At roughly 2.35pm, she was then seen walking along the A5 road, alongside a park that spans the area. This sighting places her as walking out of the town centre. 

Another source then places her on a public footpath that leads away from the river.

However, these sightings are not classed as “confirmed” and raise more questions than answers.

At around 5.55pm, a woman who was passing Trevaline’s shop witnessed a man whom she deemed to be “suspicious” outside of it. She noticed this man as something was off about his behaviour, and she seems to remember the door to the shop being somewhat open. However, when her family visited the store to look for her that evening, it was locked.

From what I can gather, the police did a thorough job, pursuing every lead possible. However, some have criticised them for not investigating this case as murder, choosing instead to continue in the belief that she was missing. 

During their investigation, they spoke to hundreds of people, checked 1500 names and eliminated over 700 cars from their enquiries.

However, in 2000, the police reopened the case, and at this point, they concluded that it was likely a murder. On the back of this, in 2001, the police made an arrest. They picked up her husband for murder.

It’s worth remembering that 60% of all murdered women are killed by their partner or ex-partner. This is based on research by the Femicide Centre.

Something about that reinvestigation must have prompted the police to arrest Richard, but that has never been revealed. And he was never charged and was released shortly after.

Because, despite appearances, a likely motive did eventually begin to surface, with the discovery that Trevaline may have been having an affair. These rumours were quick to surface following her disappearance, and they have never ceased. 

In that documentary, In The Footsteps of Killers, David Wilson reveals some evidence of this. According to him, a source within North Wales Police confirmed that multiple affairs were suspected. And it was also confirmed that Trevaline had recently inherited £10,000.00 from one of the men whom she’d been having a relationship, as that person had recently passed away.

However, there is an interesting secondary element to this that bears highlighting. It was suggested that at the time she vanished, Trevaline was carrying a substantial sum of money on her person. Some have wondered if the money was the motive. 

From what I can gather, this suggestion comes from one of the shopkeepers who spoke to Trevaline than day. They noticed a substantial sum of money in her purse when she was paying them. 

However, that suggestion doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. After all, someone would need to know that she had that money in her position. Then they’d need to have the perfect moment and location to end her life – in the middle of the day – unwitnessed. And then, somehow, get rid of her body and any evidence. That, to me, feels like a tall ask, and it feels much more likely that this was personal. 

However, there is a dent in this theory and that is that she appeared to be working back towards her shop when the 2.30 pm sighting took place. 

I believe, firmly, that Trevaline DID enter her property at some point before that sighting of her, and I believe this for a few reasons. However, the most compelling of these is the sheer size of the gap that we have in her timeline. 

There appear to be no ‘confirmed’ sightings of her between 1pm and 2.30pm meaning that she was likely inside, somewhere. Her being seen within the vicinity of her home at 2.30 pm makes her home address the most likely location. But I don’t think we can overlook her not having her keys.

There have also been a series of strange incidents in the years since that add weight to the theory that there are people within the area who know the truth. 

In May 2022, a plaque was found on a Prestatyn hillside. 

Said to have been added there within the two weeks before the article was published in the Rhyl, Prestatyn and Abergele Journal, it was attached to a bench. The bench was outside Pant-y-Fachwen, the remains of a 200-year-old miner’s cottage. It sits just off the Offa’s Dyke footpath. 

The inscription read: “Justice awaits those responsible for the removal and disposal of Trevaline Evans (in this life or the next) from Rhuddlan Golf Club on March 19, 2019, at noon. May the Lord have mercy upon their soul.”

This is the second plaque of this kind, with the first having been placed there the year before. The style was exactly the same. 

The first plaque read: “In memory of Trevaline Evans. Vanished June 16, 1990, found in Rhuddlan Golf Club March 14, 2019, removed March 19, 2019. RIP.”

It’s interesting that Ruddlan is mentioned, as that is the town in which the Evans had purchased the bungalow that they were renovating. 

The date, the 19th March, is particularly interesting. Because, on the 19th March 2019, Rhuddlan rugby club had been examined for evidence of Trevaline. 

Two brothers, Andrew and Lee Sutton, claim that they received information that Trevaline Evans had been buried at the clubhouse of Rhuddlan Golf Club. According to this unnamed tip, Richard had been working there at the time of Trevaline’s disappearance. It was suggested that Trevaline had been buried under the floor.

On the 19th of March 2019, they hired a special camera, which they say should show evidence of skeletal remains under the flooring. They specifically claimed a skill and a hand could be seen. 

They reported this to the police, and five days later, the premise was searched, but nothing was ever recovered. 

The Suttons have stated that forensic experts have looked at the images they captured and that the person has confirmed that what they saw was human. And, they also confirmed that they still have the images. They told the journal: We have no axe to grind in this at all, but we know what we saw - and what we saw had been removed by the time the police went to the golf club.”

The brothers complained to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, but the matter was referred back to North Wales police to investigate. The complaint was rejected.

The brothers claim to have no idea who is placing the plaques, but also stated that they had received multiple threats and had window smashed since their enquiries.

Then, on the 21st of November 2022 an era video was uploaded to YouTube, I will include the link in the show notes, and some audio here. While riding through Rhuddlan the person notes a bench and on that bench, is an envelope. Weighed down with a pebble, it bears four words and two dates. 

“trevaline evans. Born: 6/09/1937. Murdered 16.6.1990.”

The person opens the envelope and inside is a card. The front reads: “A speal prayer on your birthday. May God’s peace and love surround you and bring you happiness on your special day. And may you know that he is with you, watching over you, today and always.”

Then inside, underneath the verse, it reads: “Trevaline Evans. You would have been 85 today. Murdered in her shop, then interred under the floor at Rhuddlan golf club.”

While I think that my opinion is very apparent in this episode, it is important for us to touch upon the other dominant theories in this case. But let’s start by ruling out those that are not worth us spending a huge amount of time on. 

Firstly, I do not think suicide is a possibility. While we can never get inside of someone’s head, this case doesn’t seem to fit, and also, she was never recovered. Secondly, I do not think that she left voluntarily. 

In the that Crimewatch episode that was broadcast shortly after she vanished, her son described her as:

“My mother is very close to her family, and she had everything to live for, and I can’t see her, for one minute, going away without telling anyone what she was going to do. And I think whatever it is, it’s involuntary, it’s against her will.”

The idea that she had run away did gain some traction in some circles, when it was reported that a number of sightings had taken place. In 1992 in a small village in Australia, while another was reported in London and a third in France. However, these sightings have never led to anything, and the most accepted theory is that she was a likely victim of foul play. 

I do think Trevaline Evans was murdered, the remaining question being who did it. 

We’ve already outlined what I think is a fairly strong case against her husband, but let’s touch upon those other theories that are often linked to this case. 

Surprisingly, there are two serial killers who come up time and time again in connection with this case. 

The first is a man named Robin Ligus, who served a life sentence until his death in 2022. He was in prison for the murders of three men in England. The police considered this a viable lead, at one point, but the connection between Evans this killer, has never been revealed. But the public links are fairly tenuous. The first is that his murder was committed in Shrewsbury, which is less than an hour from Llangollen. And secondly, one of his victims was an antiquities dealer. 

However, it is obviously a strange one because Lingus killed men in England, not women in Wales. Following his conviction for those three murders, he was detained in a secure hospital. The police have since ruled this killer out. 

More recently, in 2021, a second killer was considered a prospect in this case. That person was Christopher Halliwell. It has since been suggested that a witness placed him in the area on the day that Trevaline vanished. However, again, there is little to no physical evidence, but police did say that they were looking into it. 

Both of Trevaline’s surviving family members have since passed away, with both her husband and son now deceased, as well as her two brothers. Pending a dramatic discovery over the coming years, it feels as if there is little chance of answers ever being uncovered in this case. However, in my opinion, there is clearly a most likely version of events. 

At the time of her disappearance, Trevaline Evans was 52 years old and was well-liked. She was known for her kind manner, and particularly her sharp eye for vintage treasures.

It has now been 35 years since she vanished, and yet her last known movements remain as ambiguous today as they were over three decades ago.