Gerard woke up around 6 am.

Allison wasn’t in bed.

Their three daughters, then aged ten, eight and five weren’t awake yet. Gerard got out of bed and walked through the house to see if Allison was already up, or if she had fallen asleep on the sofa the night before. She had done that in the past. But she wasn’t there.

Gerard assumed Allison must have gone for her early morning walk, something she usually did around 6 am, but that would be odd considering she had the conference that day, and she had mentioned wanting to leave by 7. He thought she mustn’t be far away, so he went to the bathroom for a shave.

At 6:20 am he sent Allison a text: ‘Good morning! Hope you slept well? Where are you? None of the girls are up yet! Love G.’

At 6:45 am Allison still hadn’t returned home.

Gerard grew concerned, he didn’t want her to be late for the conference, so he tried calling Allison’s phone, but she didn’t answer. He sent Allison another text message saying the girls were ready and could she text him back or call.

He then called his father, Nigel and sister Olivia. They lived close by, and one of them could watch the girls while the other helped him look for Allison. Within minutes they were on the streets surrounding their home looking, maybe she was hurt and twisted her ankle or something.

At 7:15 am, Gerard called Police Emergency…..