Patricia Lashley

Patricia was originally from Newcastle. However, she had lived in several different places during the previous 10 years. In 1998, Patricia was a mother of seven, and she had become a mother early on in her life.

When Patricia had lived in Newcastle, she had had her first four children with her partner. However, this relationship had not lasted. And by 1992, Patricia had met her second partner.

The couple got married, and they had two children together. This relationship, however, had also broken down. And it was at this point in 1995 that Patricia moved to Dudley.

During her life in Dudley, Patricia had moved into the flat on Hall Street and had begun a new relationship with her boyfriend at the time, Trevor. Since moving to Dudley, Patricia had also had her seventh child. Patricia was well known in the area that she lived and those that knew her at the time described that she enjoyed visiting pubs as well as a club called No Limits.

Patricia enjoyed socializing and clearly knew people in the area of Hall Street close to her flat. Patricia led a somewhat nomadic lifestyle and contact with her family was not always regular. She cared about her family and her children and they loved her too.

Police have confirmed that it was known that Patricia did struggle with her mental health and with substance abuse, both alcohol and drugs. And therefore she was not always regular with the way in which she kept in touch with those close to her.

One of those people who tried to keep in contact with Patricia was her sister, who lived in Ebbw Vale in Wales. In June 1999, Patricia's sister noticed that she had not spoken to her since the summer of 1998, the previous year. She attempted to track down and speak to her sister to check in and make sure everything was okay.

All attempts to try and contact and locate Patricia failed. She did not manage to speak to her and her sister discovered that there may indeed be a reason for that. No one appeared to have seen Patricia since early September 1998.

This was nine months before her sister had attempted to contact her. This led to Patricia's sister filing a missing person report with the police to try and track her down. The police found that Patricia had left before without making contact with anyone for several days.

However, this time it looked as though she had not returned and she hadn't contacted anyone. On previous occasions, Patricia had always returned. This, of course, raised alarm bells and police began investigating Patricia's movements before she went missing.

This may have proven difficult to begin with due to Patricia's lifestyle and the fact that she was known by a few different names. Pat, Jade, Janessa Bradford, as well as different variations of spelling of her last name Lashley. Despite this, police were able to establish that Patricia had last been seen at her flat on September 1st, 1998.

This seemed to be the last official sighting of her before she disappeared. It's reported that police found out that before she disappeared, Patricia had had an argument with her boyfriend. There isn't much elaborated on about this argument or whether this had anything to do with her disappearance.

However, police did launch an investigation to try and get to the bottom of where she was. This included interviewing people in the local area and checking up on other connections that she may have had across the country. It appears that this was a big line of inquiry given the number of places that Patricia had lived.

And these connections are described as being Newcastle, London, Wales and Cyprus, as this was where her ex-husband's family lived. Searches for Patricia were launched and appeals were made. Her description was circulated, which was that Patricia was 5 feet 4 inches tall and was slim with mousy brown hair.

Her front two teeth were described as black, with other teeth missing at the sides. She had a distinctive jaudy accent and it was known that she smoked heavily. Another distinctive thing about Patricia that was included in the description is that she was outgoing, but didn't give eye contact to people when she spoke to them.

Police hoped that someone would recognize this description of Patricia, and that they would discover that she was living somewhere else in the area or in the country. Police were on the back foot, given that her disappearance had not been noted for nine months before the investigation had started. They knew, however, that Patricia was a high-risk missing person, given that it was known that she had struggled with depression in the past, and that this was something that she often battled in her life.

She was a vulnerable person who needed to be found. The worrying thing was also that she had not withdrawn any money from her bank account, and she hadn't taken any possessions with her. If she had left to make a new life for herself, then how was she sustaining herself with no money and nothing to live on?

Despite the searches and appeals for information in Patricia's missing person case, no valuable information was discovered. And nothing led to her being located. Over the years that followed, her family had to live with not knowing where Patricia went.

And this must have been hard on her children and the rest of her family.

Many years began to pass in the investigation, and still Patricia could not be found. In 2010, there was finally news, and that was that the police were reopening her case. At that time, Patricia would have been 45, and West Midlands police were hoping that they would be able to find out more about her disappearance.

Detective Inspector Nigel Smith said, over the years since Patricia went missing, we have conducted many searches, inquiries and trawled through a great deal of information. However, she is yet to be found. Missing persons investigations always remain open should any new information be received, and we are now reviewing Patricia's case in the hope a revised appeal may help us to solve the mystery of her disappearance for her family, especially her seven children.

We are aware that prior to her disappearance, Pat had suffered with drink and drug problems. Whether this has any connection with her going missing is still unclear. What we do know is that Pat's sister and her children were distressed and bewildered by her disappearance and desperately want to know what has happened to her.

Some of her children were cared for by family members, while the youngest three boys were taken into social services care. Her youngest will be 12 by now. It's difficult to imagine that Pat can't be wondering what he's like now.

He's a grown boy. He was just nine months when she left. Patricia has obviously had a colourful life where she's moved around the country and formed a number of relationships.

Despite this producing a number of lines of inquiry, none of those brought us any closer to finding Patricia. What we do know is, is that her family has not heard from her for almost 12 years. She has not appeared on any government systems by claiming benefit or anything else.

And she has not used her known bank accounts. It truly is a mystery and one we are keen to solve for the sake of the family.

Despite this new appeal in 2010, information was few and far between. However, in 2017, another appeal was launched by Patricia's family. Her eldest son, Sinan, was very eager to put out an appeal for his mum, and he'd recently had a baby girl, and he wanted her to meet her granddaughter.

He told the press, I would love for mum to meet her granddaughter after all this time. Family is so important to us. My last memory of mum was when I was eight years old, and I was sitting talking to her in my nan's garden.

But with each year that passes, that memory becomes more faded. There is a big hole which can't be filled, even after all this time. Detective Inspector Richard Jones of Dudley Police gave an update.

He said, we believe people may remember Pat, as she was very well known locally, and be able to provide new and important information. It may be that she confided in a friend and shared plans for leaving the area. We have not heard from her in over 18 years.

She has not appeared on any government systems, claiming any benefits or used any bank accounts. We don't know where she is now, and we need the help of the public. There are so many unknowns about Patricia, her life and her disappearance.

However, it's clear that she's missed by her children that she left behind, and her sister who desperately tried to find her in 1999. It is concerning that there's been no sign of Patricia anywhere in all the years that she's been missing. And the question remains, where is Patricia?

And has something happened to her? If it has, where is she now? Patricia deserves to be found, and her family deserve to know where she is.

News Report From: 9th July 2026

Murder charge 27 years after woman's disappearance

A man has been charged with the murder of a woman who went missing more than 27 years ago.

Patricia Lashley had last been seen near her home on Hall Street, Dudley in September 1998.

Nearly three decades later Trevor Dunkley, 66, has been accused of her killing, West Midlands Police have confirmed.

He was remanded and is due to appear at Wolverhampton Crown Court on Monday.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who knew Lashley, known locally as Pat or Jade, and might be able to help them build a clearer picture of her life.

The mother of seven was known to have links to London, Newcastle, Wales and Scotland, and also used the names Jade, Vanessa and Tricia as well as the surname Bradford.

Police said she moved to Dudley in the mid-1990s and frequented the No Limits club and other pubs in the area.

It is understood she and Dunkley knew one another.

Det Insp Michelle Cordell said: "We want to hear from anyone who may have known or remembers meeting Patricia, or Trevor Dunkley.

"We know she was fairly well known in both Dudley town centre and Oldbury.

"Even if you already spoke to us at the time Patricia went missing, we still want to hear from you as we gather as much information as we can to help her family find some closure after nearly 30 years."