MISSING FOR 67 YEARS - THE DISAPPEARANCE OF DEREK SAVILLE

Derek Saville was a 25 year old bus driver who was last seen kissing his 18-year-old girlfriend goodnight at her house, Corner House, in Canon Pyon, Herefordshire at about 11.30pm, on 7 December 1954.
Derek Saville lived in lodgings in Bush Bank less than a mile away from Canon Pyon.
Canon Pyon was described as a very quiet village, with about 574 inhabitants at the time.

Derek’s girlfriend, who was a secretary with a firm in Hereford, said they have been going together for three or four months. Derek called her at about 8.30 pm on Tuesday, the 7th of December 1954.
They both had a drink at the village pub, where he was very popular as a member of the darts team, and walked back to her house.
Derek was behaving normal, just as usual, chatting in the house with his girlfriend and her mother, he then left at 11.30 the same night. At the garden gate, Derek kissed his girlfriend goodnight.
His last words to here were 'Goodnight, dear, see you tomorrow night'.
When Derek didn’t arrive the next evening, his girlfriend believed he was called on for a different shift at work.
She said and I quote:
I am in a complete fog. If Derek lost his memory and was wandering, surely someone would have reported something about him by now. It doesn't look as though he has gone willingly. A few weeks ago, he told me he was jumped on by someone who took a swipe at him and then ran away, as he was on his way home after seeing me'.
End of quote
Derek’s girlfriend was very worried about Derek's disappearance, there were no issues between them, when she last saw him, he seemed his nice and quiet self.
She also recalled Derek being attacked a few weeks earlier
QUOTE
'Derek was attacked in October of this year. He was going home after seeing me when he heard something rustling in the hedge. When he turned he saw a man with his arm upraised. Derek dropped his cycle to defend himself, but the man jumped over the hedge and ran away'.
END OF QUOTE
Derek Saville's body was never found, although the police later carried out excavation work in 2007.
A laundry bag that he was carrying at the time of his disappearance was never found.
It was believed Derek might have been killed by a love rival or his girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend. There was speculation Derek Saville was threatened and intimidated by another man, possibly the jealous ex-boyfriend, on the day he disappeared . The man apparently threatened Derek and said he would 'get him' .He could have been in someway involved with Derek’s death.
However, at the time of the investigation, the ex-boyfriend, who was seeing Derek Saville's girlfriend up until about seven weeks before Derek Saville disappeared, denied all involvement in his disappearance. It was reported that him and Derek Saville were once considered rivals for Derek Saville's girlfriend's hand.
People in Canon Pyon suggested that jealousy over Derek Saville's relationship with his girlfriend had something to do with his disappearance .
Derek Saville was described by the police as a 'bit of a lady's man'. The police said Derek Saville's hair, good physique, neat clothes and happy-go-lucky attitude made him as attractive to girls as they were to him. And for that reason, some men who were less successful in having girlfriends, might have disliked him.
The police also believed it was possible Derek Saville was killed accidentally, either in connection with the love rival, the person that threatened him earlier in the day, or in some other way, and then disposed of.
However, the police also said that the case was, 'almost certainly one of murder'.
The ex-boyfriend said quote
'I know the gossips are saying that I was jealous of Saville but it is all nonsense. As far as I am concerned I broke off with her. There is no question at all of jealousy. I now have another girl friend'.
END OF QUOTE
The man worked in a Hereford Factory and lived in Tillington, the next village to Canon Pyon. When he was asked about the mystery man that had jumped out on Derek Saville and his girlfriend one night, the ex-boyfriend said,
'The police saw me about it, but it was not me. I have a clear conscience on this whole matter. I saw Saville in Canon Pyon on the night he vanished, but that was quite early in the evening. I was back home by nine o’clock and stayed in listening to the radio. I never went out again that evening'.
He was also reported as saying, 'I bet the village gossips are busy. I took another girl home from a village dance. Derek and I had a few words about it at time and later the girl chose Derek Saville as her boyfriend. We returned each other's presents. I handed back the yellow pullover she gave me. She handed me back the locket I gave her. I haven’t the faintest idea what has happened to Derek'.

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