 Prior to her disappearance , according to her friends , Carol was feeling depressed . She had talked of tracing her biological parents , as she was adopted . On 17 July 1976 , she went missing . Gordon claimed that she had left home for another man , and Carol had left their home in <unk> twice before . It was for this reason , Gordon claimed , that he did not report her missing for six weeks . Carol was said to time her periods away from home to coincide with the school holidays . Gordon claimed that it wasn 't until she didn 't return in time to take up her job as a primary school teacher in September ( the start of the school term ) that he realised that there was a problem . At this time he reported her missing via his solicitor , and her family was informed . On the day she vanished , the family had been due to visit Blackpool on a day trip . However , Carol said she felt <unk> and wanted to remain behind in bed . She was never seen alive again by her family . Gordon claimed he returned home to find Carol had left the house , leaving behind her wedding ring , and that there was no sign of a struggle . A missing persons enquiry was launched , but nothing came of it . This missing persons report was subsequently lost , and it was implied by some that it was because both Gordon and a senior police commander ( who , by the time the article was published , had died ) involved in the case were <unk> . This was refuted by Sandra <unk> , who , in No Smoke , claimed that Gordon had never been a <unk> . At the time , police told Gordon that , should a body be found , he would be the main suspect . 
