Items of Interest
Over the years Avon and Somerset Police have made a number of appeals for information in relation to the disappearance and murder of Shelley, many focused around items of interest that the public might have visually noticed on the day Shelley disappeared or come into contact with.
RED FRAMED GLASSES
Shelley was wearing her pair of red framed glasses on the day of her disappearance.
The glasses are distinctive in both colour and size, and when combined with Shelley’s description led to a member of the public identify someone closely resembling Shelley boarding a number 121 bus at East Street, Bedminster on the morning of 11 June 1984.
LARGE PATCHWORK-STYLE SHOULDER BAG
Referred to as a “carpet bag” by the police in the early appeals, this bag would have contained at least Shelley’s Olympus OM20 camera, tripod and sketching material on the day she disappeared.
Whilst not unique in design as it was made to a pattern by Shelley, it was unique in appearance due to the material used by Shelley to make it.
In the BBC Crimewatch appeal of Tuesday 6 November 1984, Avon and Somerset Police displayed a representative bag in both design and appearance. Produced by Shelley’s mother to the exact same pattern as the one Shelley used, and using material from Shelley’s home, this is probably as authentic resemblance possible of Shelley’s shoulder bag.
OLYMPUS OM20 CAMERA – SERIAL NO. 1032853
A relatively recent release to the camera market by Olympus, this was Shelley’s pride and joy. First sold in the United Kingdom in 1983, at the time of Shelley’s disappearance only a few hundred would have been sold and very few would have entered the resale market. Retailing new at £130, this would have been considered alot of money at the time.
Shelley’s camera was fitted with an Olympus OM-System Zuiko 50mm f1.8 lens serial number 3271752.
Despite production of the Olympus OM20 ceasing in 1987, these cameras still remain popular within the photographic community and on the resale market today.
Whilst Shelley’s murderer may have retained the camera, it is also possible that it is in the possession of an innocent member of the public who may have unknowingly bought it, or been gifted it by a relative, friend or neighbour.
It is also possible that at some point Shelley’s camera and lens could have been separated and sold independently. The lens can be fitted to other cameras in the Olympus range.
Since the Crimewatch appeal of 6 November 1984, Avon and Somerset Police have consistently appealed for information about the whereabouts of this specific Olympus OM20 camera serial number 1032853.
POSTCARDS
The most recent appeal in June 2019 by Avon and Somerset Police on the 35th anniversary of Shelley’s disappearance featured two postcards.
Whilst the police have never explained the significance of these postcards, the images are of locations relative to the investigation – one a location near where Shelley was due to visit on the day of her disappearance and the second being the village where her body was discovered.
The two postcards were tear-off postcards from a calendar produced and sold in aid of a local Bristol hospice charity in the 1980s or 1990s.
If you have any information regarding any of the above items please visit the Give Information page to see how you can submit that information.