Sutton-in-Ashfield: Family’s plea for help after human remains identified as missing dad-of-six

The family of murdered man Alfred Swinscoe are calling for answers after he was found buried in a field 56 years after he went missing.

Nottinghamshire Police were called to farmland near Coxmoor Road in Sutton-in-Ashfield when human remains were discovered in April.

Last month, a murder investigation was launched and at a press conference on June 8, officers identified the bones as father-of-six Alfred Swinscoe.

“It’s just so horrible,” Alfred’s daughter Julie Swinscoe said. “I would like to think I could die knowing the truth. I am 82 now and I could go myself at any time.”

She added: “We all thought it was very mysterious, but we thought he would turn up. It does make you wonder how we did cope through all these years because it has always stayed with us as a family. Where did dad go?”

Officers believe Mr Swinscoe was murdered and buried in farmland so that he would never be found.

Russell Lowbridge was four-years-old when his grandfather Alfred went missing in early 1967.

The 60-year-old contacted police when pictures of an odd pair of socks released from the scene evoked childhood memories for Mr Lowbridge, who “had a distinct feeling [he] had seen them somewhere before”.

‘Never knew what happened’

Mr Lowbridge said his grandfather’s disappearance “haunted” Mr Swinscoe’s son Gary, who died in 2012, “[for] his whole life, never knowing what happened”.

He added: “[Gary] wouldn’t let it go, especially as he was in the pub with him the night he went missing. He just remembers his dad giving him a 10-bob note in the pub - telling him to get a round and then never ever seeing him again.”

Alfred Swinscoe lived in the village of Pinxton in Derbyshire when he disappeared.

He worked at Langton Colliery from the age of 14 as a “cutter”, known for operating machinery that cut large chunks of coal from the coal face to be broken down.

Mr Swinscoe was nicknamed the “Sparrow” and was also known as the “Champion Pigeon Man of Pinxton”, due to his love of pigeon racing.

Four of his six children are still alive and he has a number of grandchildren, police said.

He was last seen at work on January 20 1967 and his last known sighting was at the Pinxton Miners Arms in Church Street West - a pub that was popular with the mining community.

It has since closed and was converted into a house, which is a “short drive” from where Mr Swinscoe’s remains were discovered.

Mr Lowbridge said: “We would go back to Pinxton at the time and search down disused wells and even hired a private detective near the end.

“It completely broke [Gary], never knowing what happened to his dad. I want justice for him because he tried so hard to get answers.

“We are going to bury Alfred in Sutton next to uncle Gary. It is time this old miner came home.”

Ms Swinsoce added: “We might be able to now give my dad the funeral he deserves but we don’t have the answers we desperately want.

“Someone killed my dad and I want to know why. I need to know why.”