Vivacious hospital worker Melanie Hall went missing in 1996 and her remains discovered in 2009. Details about what happened to her explored.
Melanie Hall was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford on Avon whose life was cut short as she died a painful death.
She disappeared on 9 June 1996, following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath.
Her missing update status stands as “Declared dead in absentia” on 17 November 2004 (aged 34) and her remains were discovered 13 years later on 5 October 2009, in Thornbury, Gloucestershire, UK.
A new Channel 5 documentary explores the disappearance and death of Melanie Hall. Body in the Bag: The Murder of Melanie Hall, airing Thursday, September 28 at 9pm on Channel 5.
Here we take a look at what happened to Melanie Hall in 1996 and how her body was tragically discovered 13 years later.
Who was Melanie Hall?
Melanie Hall was born on 20 August 1970, in England, to parents Stephen “Steve” Hall (father) and Patricia “Pat” Hall (mother).
She was not an only child as she had a sister named Dominique Hall.
Her dad had a background in sports and served as a Chairman of the Bath City Football Club.
Hall was described by her parents as a “young, vibrant daughter”.
Growing up, Hall had always wanted to be a health worker. She worked academically towards her dream and graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Bath in 1995. Her mom said graduation had been a “cherished” dream of Melanie’s for four years.
Melanie was a 25-year-old NHS worker and university graduate from Bradford on Avon.
Prior to her death, she was employed as a clerical worker at the Royal United Hospital in Bath.
What happened to Melanie Hall?
Melanie Hall disappeared following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath on June 9, 1996.
Melanie’s sister, Dominique, last saw her sibling at her mum and dad’s home on the Friday prior to her disappearance.
The alarm was later raised when Melanie failed to show up to her job at the Royal United Hospital on June 11.
Mum Pat, who worked at the same hospital, had called dad Steve to report Melanie had failed to show, with Steve then ringing Dominique.
As the news trickled down, it emerged the family believed she was staying with her boyfriend, who later revealed Melanie had left the club and gone back home for the weekend.
Dominique said: “From what I remember both Mum and Dad felt from the onset that something terrible had happened.
“It wasn’t a sixth sense, but just the fact that Mel was such a home loving woman without a care in the world.
“I was more hopeful than Mum and Dad in the first few days that she may come home. I hoped she had just got into a bit of trouble and was embarrassed about coming home for a couple of days.
“However, by the end of the first week I thought she would really be missing her home comforts by now, and she was too kind to cause this sort of worry (especially to Mum), if she actually could come home.
“Also, her bank accounts and car hadn’t been touched, so it wasn’t hard to work out something was seriously wrong. And then the dread sets in – and as time goes on you go from hoping she is alive to knowing that the best outcome is probably finding a body.”
After reporting her disappearance, police launched a huge search.
Thousands of clubbers and taxi drivers were interviewed, while elsewhere, the River Avon was also searched several times.
Despite police efforts, no trace of Melanie was found.
On November 17, 2004, Melanie Hall was legally declared dead.
Has Melanie Hall’s body been found?
13 years after she vanished without a trace, Melanie Hall’s remains were tragically found on the edge of the M5 motorway in October 2009.
A worker discovered a plastic bag containing bones while he was cleaning on the side of a slip road near Thornbury, South Gloucestershire.
This discovery was a major breakthrough for the police — yet devastating for Melanie’s parents.
Melanie’s father Steve said: ”We had a beautiful girl, now we have a bag of bones, and when you try to get your head around that, it is a terrible thing.”
A post mortem found Melanie had suffered a severe blunt trauma to her head resulting in a fractured skull, cheekbone and jaw.
She had been tied up with a blue rope, with a piece of her jewellery also found.
So far 11 people have been arrested in relation to the case but no one has been charged.
Over the years, police questioned Suzy Lamplugh‘s suspected killer John Cannan.
There was also a link made between the murder and double killer Christopher Halliwell but this was ruled out by cops.
Despite the high-profile nature of Melanie’s murder, her killer has never been found.
If you have any information regarding the murder of Melanie Hall, please call 101 and ask for Avon and Somerset Police and say you have information relating to Operation Denmark.