A man wanted over his girlfriend’s death has been found dead in a caravan almost six months after he disappeared.
Richard Scatchard, aged 70, went on the run after Kelly Faiers died following an ambulance call-out to his home in Minehead on Sunday, 15 October.
The 61-year-old’s death was quickly made subject of a murder investigation by police – but despite nationwide appeals to find Mr Scatchard and a £10,000 Crimestoppers reward, the manhunt for him went cold.
But just after 2pm on Thursday, Avon and Somerset Police were called by a member of the public who reported the discovery of a man’s body inside a caravan, near Cleeve Hill, in Watchet just eight miles from his last sighting.
A spokesman said although the formal identification process has not yet been completed, the force suspected the man is likely to be Mr Scatchard.
He was wanted on a prison recall and police wished to speak to him to as part of a murder enquiry into the death of Ms Faiers.
Detective Superintendent Gary Haskins, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “Kelly’s family have been informed of the latest development and we will keep them, and Richard Scatchard’s family, updated as our enquiries progress. Specialist family liaison officers continue to provide support to Kelly’s family at this difficult time.
“A forensic post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course, but we believe the man’s death occurred some time ago. Until that has been completed we will be treating the man’s death as unexplained, albeit we are not aware of any suspicious circumstances at this time.
“We would like to thank those people who have responded to the appeals for information we have issued over the past five-and-a-half months and will continue to update the public as our enquiries progress.”
The “prolific” dating app user was considered a risk to the public, especially the women he formed relationships with.
Scatchard spoke to officers initially but vanished before they could return to question him again about the death.
Despite previous convictions for drugging women and sexual abuse, Scatchard was not taken away by police for questioning – and when officers returned to talk to him the following day, he had vanished on a distinctive electric bike with pink tyres and flowers on the rim.
He was last seen in Minehead on October 16 with Ms Faiers’ family submitting a complaint to Avon and Somerset Police claiming to have been let down and angry over a lack of support and information provided during the investigation.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “Our investigation into Avon and Somerset Police’s response to Kelly Faiers’ death is ongoing.”