There was nothing exceptional about August 19. John left the house at 7.30am to take Violet to work at the hospital in Exeter. He was back home for 10am to make the two girls breakfast. Tania was preparing to go on a fortnight's holiday to Cornwall with her birth father. The girls went to Post Office for some sweets.

At 12.20pm John drove Tania and her boyfriend to Exeter to catch her coach, leaving Genette alone at home. He would never see her again.

Genette set off from Barton Farm Cottage sometime after 2pm to deliver copies of the Express and Echo newspaper.

Riding her blue Kalkhoff bike she rode through Aylesbeare along Withen Lane and out of the village to the busy A3052 - the main road connecting Exeter to the seaside town of Sidmouth. It was busy with holiday traffic as she crossed the road. Outside the White Horse Inn she collected a bundle of papers from the delivery van and began her round.

The White Horse Inn, where Genette picked up her newspapers The White Horse Inn, where Genette picked up her newspapers

Roger Busby, press officer for Devon and Cornwall Police at the time, explains: “This was her last day on the paper round. She was the relief papergirl and she’d been doing the paper round for a week and it was the Saturday she was going to finish doing it. She was standing in for the main paper boy. He was doing something else that week so she agreed to do it for him.”

By 3.15pm Genette had travelled about two thirds of the way along Withen Lane, having delivered 14 newspapers. At a small bridge she met by chance two of her friends, Margaret Heavey and Tracey Pratt. The three girls chatted and started to walk back towards Aylesbeare together, Genette pushing her bike up a small slope. At the top of the incline Genette got back on her bike and cycled ahead.

The police recreation of Genette's abandoned bicycle being found The police recreation of Genette's abandoned bicycle being found

She would have remained in Maggie and Tracey’s sight for about 50 metres or so until the country lane bent out of view. It was the last sighting her friends ever had of Genette.

Between five and ten minutes later the girls, who had been walking slowly behind Genette, came across her bike in the road. It was on its side with newspapers spilled from the basket.

They began to call her name, look over the hedgerows into fields but there was no response.

John Tate says: “Genette’s friends came up the road to say that they couldn’t find Genette anywhere and they were pushing her bicycle. I went back with them to the lane to see where they had last seen her. They’d all started looking by then. They were jumping over hedges shouting her name and all sorts. After a very short time Violet said ‘John I think we better call the police’.”

It was the beginning of a missing person search which would become the largest and longest ever mounted by Devon and Cornwall Police.