The disappearance of the Claypath twins is of personal importance to the Chief of local police, their father, DCI Roger Claypath, who issued this statement earlier today: ‘My wife and I are devastated by the disappearances of our children and we are actively seeking to bring the right party to justice. We are pursuing a number of leads, but it seems that Matthew McConnell, who we thought of as our children’s friend, had the means and the knowledge to carry out a horrific act of deception and murder. As is public knowledge, McConnell was employed by the Canal & River Trust to give tours inside the tunnel, which is why the students were allowed to pass unattended. Given his station, he knew of the various ways out of Standedge from the inside. Timing is still an issue and we are still trying to create a timeline of what exactly happened. We ask that the press respect the families of those dealing with this tremendous loss, including my own.’

McConnell is currently recovering from a head injury (that the police believe was self-inflicted) in Anderson Hospital. He will be transported to a holding cell when he recovers while the investigation team finalises the case against him.

The bodies of the five missing young people have yet to be recovered. A source said, ‘The bodies are not in the tunnel, as the police have sent divers into the canal. They seem increasingly frustrated in trying to find out what happened to the five students. DCI Claypath has people working around the clock to try and bring this story to an end, no matter how tragic it may be.’

Huddersfield Press reached out to the Canal & River Trust for comments on the situation. They refused to comment, other than to give sympathies to the families affected by this tragedy.

Robin stopped reading and looked down at his notes. He’d been writing without knowing it. He’d listed the names: Tim Claypath, Rachel Claypath, Edmund Sunderland, Robert Frost and Prudence Pack. And he’d circled McConnell. Matthew McConnell. Everything he read lined up with what Matthew said. Five kids, students, went missing inside the tunnel, but Matthew was left behind.

This supposedly happened on June 26 this year? Less than two months ago. How the hell had he not heard about this? This should have been national news; this should have been in every newspaper in the country. But he hadn’t heard a thing about it—hadn’t even known what Standedge was.

And leaving the paper’s website, he found that the other results were irrelevant. Only one result about this mass disappearance—it didn’t make sense.