Police in Watchet, Somerset have discovered a body in a caravan which they believe to be that of Richard Scatchard, a convicted sex offender wanted for questioning over the death of Kelly Faiers, 61, who died on 15 October at Scatchard’s home in Minehead. Scatchard had been missing since 16 October and had not been located despite about 100 unconfirmed sightings. Police believe the man’s death “occurred some time ago” and a post-mortem will be carried out to confirm the identity of the deceased.
Scatchard was wanted by police on recall to prison for breaching his licence conditions and was also being sought over Ms Faiers’ death, which is now being treated as suspicious after a post-mortem examination was inconclusive. The last confirmed sighting of Scatchard was on CCTV in the Swain Street area of Watchet, but he was also seen in the area near his home address in Minehead by a member of the public about an hour later.
According to Det Supt Gary Haskins, “Kelly’s family have been informed of the latest development and we will keep them, and Richard Scatchard’s family, updated as our enquiries progress…Until [the post-mortem] has been completed we will be treating the man’s death as unexplained, albeit we are not aware of any suspicious circumstances at this time”.
Scatchard had previous convictions for sexual offences in which he administered drugs to his victims and police had warned that he posed a serious risk to women he formed relationships with. Ms Faiers had met Scatchard on a dating app and they had gone out together for the evening on 14 October. Scatchard had called the ambulance service to his home address in Blenheim Road, Minehead at 04.15 GMT the following morning, reporting Ms Faiers as critically ill. She was pronounced dead by paramedics and police spoke to Scatchard at the property before returning the following day to find that he had disappeared
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