Mary Bastholm: who was the 15-year-old suspected murder victim of Fred West - and what did the serial killer say about her?

A documentary examining the untold stories of the victims of Fred and Rose West is set to air tonight on Channel 5.

One of the victims explored in the documentary is 15-year-old Mary Bastholm who went missing from a bus stop in 1968.

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Here’s all you need to know about Mary Bastholm, and what Fred West said about her in a new recording.

Who was Mary Bastholm?

On 6 January 1968 15-year-old Mary Bastholm went missing from a bus stop in Gloucester.

The teenager had been on her way to catch a bus to visit her boyfriend, but she never arrived, and has never been heard from since.

The 15-year-old worked as a waitress at Pop-Inn cafe, now called The Clean Plate cafe in Gloucester, where serial killer Fred West is said to have visited frequently.

Author Gordon Burn, who wrote about Bastholm in his book Happy Like Murderers, said: “Mary helped in the kitchen at the Pop-Inn café near the docks in Southgate Street, Gloucester where Fred West used to go: He had done some work on the drains in the yard there towards the end of 1967.

"His most usual reason for being in the Pop-Inn, though, was his friendship with a petty crook."

Two years after her disappearance, her parents Christian and Doreer Bastholm spoke about the last time they saw their daughter as he headed to meet her boyfriend in Hardwicke.

They said: “She went out between 10 and quarter past seven with a carrier bag with a Monopoly set in to catch the 25 past bus at the end of Tuffley Avenue. That was the last we saw of her."

Her boyfriend had arranged to meet her at the bus stop on the other end - but she wasn’t on the bus.

What did Fred West say about Mary Bastholm?

A popular theory behind Mary Bastholm’s fate is that she was picked up by Fred West, after he offered her a life, and then murdered her.

Other West victims had been abducted at bus stops - a reason why Bastholm’s case has been linked to Fred West.

Serial killers Fred and Rose West had denied the murder, but in a interview unearthed in Channel 5 documentary ‘Fred and Rose West: The Search for the Victims’, Fred West said a sentence which could confirm their guilt.

On the tape recording, made by a legal team, Fred West is heard saying: “The girl, Mary Bastholm, remember I said that to you in the car. I had to go back and give her a f***ing sorting out.”

It is still not known who West is talking to, or whether he is recalling a conversation with his wife.

Rose West’s lawyer, Leo Goatley, said Fred’s lies, and fantasies were designed to confuse the police.

He said: “Fred West was a prolific liar. 'm quite sure that he did kill Mary Bastholm, but trying to extract the remote strands of truth from Fred's fantasies and lies was very difficult.”

When is Fred and Rose West: The Search for the Victims on TV?

Fred and Rose West: The Search for the Victims airs on Channel 5 at 9pm on 7 June.

The documentary is in two parts, with part two airing tomorrow (8 June) on Channel 5 at 9pm.

The first episode is an hour and half long.