The disappearances of five young people from the Greater Manchester area between 1963 and 1965 formed a calculated sequence of abductions carried out by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

The pair exploited the trust of children and teenagers in everyday settings around Gorton and Hattersley. Each case began with a simple offer of a lift or an invitation to see puppies, which led the victims away from familiar streets and onto the bleak expanse of Saddleworth Moor.

Background to the Partnership

Ian Brady arrived in Manchester from Glasgow in the late 1950s. He secured clerical work at Millwards Merchandising, where he met Myra Hindley in 1961. Hindley, then twenty-one, lived with her grandmother in Gorton and held a similar clerical post. Their relationship quickly deepened around shared interests in Nazi memorabilia and violent literature. Brady introduced Hindley to his plans for what he termed “the perfect murder,” and she began to assist him in scouting locations and procuring vehicles.

By early 1963 the couple had access to a pale blue Morris Minor and a green Mini van. They used these cars to travel between their home and the remote moorland tracks above Oldham. Hindley learned to drive at Brady’s insistence, a skill that proved essential for the later offences.

The Sequence of Disappearances

Pauline Reade

Sixteen-year-old Pauline Reade left her home on Wiles Street on 12 July 1963 to attend a local dance. She never reached the venue. Hindley later stated that she had approached Reade with an offer of a lift in the Mini. Brady waited on the moor. The girl’s body was buried in a shallow grave near the A635 road. Her disappearance received routine police attention at the time, with no immediate link drawn to any other missing persons.

John Kilbride

Twelve-year-old John Kilbride vanished from Ashton-under-Lyne market on 23 November 1963. He had stayed behind after the market closed to earn extra money by helping stallholders. Witnesses recalled seeing a young woman matching Hindley’s description speaking with a boy near a light-coloured car. Kilbride’s body was later found buried close to Reade’s on the moor.

Keith Bennett

Keith Bennett, also twelve, disappeared on 16 June 1964 while walking from his home in Longsight to his grandmother’s house in Chorlton. Hindley stopped the Mini and asked Bennett if he would help her load some boxes. Once inside the vehicle, Brady took control. Bennett’s body remains the only one not recovered despite extensive searches.

Lesley Ann Downey

Ten-year-old Lesley Ann Downey was abducted from the Christmas fair at Hulme Hall on 26 December 1964. She had gone to buy a present for her younger brother. The couple took her to their home at 16 Wardle Brook Avenue, where photographs and a tape recording were made before she was driven to the moor and killed. Her body was buried near a stream.

Edward Evans

Seventeen-year-old Edward Evans met Brady and Hindley at Manchester Central Station on 6 October 1965. Brady had struck up a conversation with Evans earlier that evening. The pair lured him to their flat, where he was struck with an axe and strangled. His body was wrapped in plastic sheeting and left in the spare bedroom. This final murder brought the case to an end when Hindley’s brother-in-law, David Smith, witnessed the aftermath and alerted police.

Police Investigation and Arrest

Detective Chief Superintendent Arthur Benfield led the inquiry after Evans’s body was discovered. Officers searched the couple’s flat and recovered the tape recording of Downey’s ordeal along with photographs of the victims. Hindley and Brady were arrested on 7 October 1965. Further searches on Saddleworth Moor in 1965 and 1966 located the remains of Reade, Kilbride and Downey. Bennett’s disappearance remained unresolved at trial.

Trial and Convictions

The trial opened at Chester Assizes in April 1966. Both defendants were convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Hindley maintained for many years that Brady had coerced her participation. She later admitted fuller involvement during parole hearings in the 1980s and 1990s. Brady never sought release and died in 2017. Hindley died in 2002 while still in custody.

Impact on Missing Persons Procedures

The case prompted changes in how Greater Manchester Police handled reports of missing children. Officers began cross-referencing disappearances more systematically and placed greater emphasis on moorland searches when vehicles were involved. The investigation also highlighted the value of preserving physical evidence such as tape recordings and photographs, which proved decisive at trial.

Conclusion

The disappearances orchestrated by Brady and Hindley exposed the vulnerability of children in ordinary urban settings and the capacity of two individuals to conceal multiple crimes across open moorland. The five cases remain a reference point for British police training on abduction investigations and the handling of historical missing persons files.

Bibliography

Lee, C. (2012) The Moors Murders: The Full Story. London: Constable.

Goodman, J. (1973) The Moors Murders. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.

Topping, P. (1989) The Secret of the Moors. London: W.H. Allen.

Williams, E. (1967) Beyond Belief: The Moors Murders. London: Pan Books.

National Archives (1966) HO 334/123: Trial transcripts of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. Kew: The National Archives.

Manchester Evening News (1965–1966) Contemporary court reports. Manchester: MEN Media.

Keating, H. (1997) The Murder Guide to Great Britain. London: Warner Books.

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