Murder of Mark Tildesley
Mark Tildesley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 31 August 1976 Berkshire, England, UK |
| Died | 1 June 1984 (aged 7) Wokingham, Berkshire, England, UK |
| Cause of death | Murder by drugging, gang rape and strangulation |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | Murder victim |
| Parent(s) | John Tildesley (1932–2005) Lavinia Tildesley (1935–2011) |
Mark Anthony Tildesley (31 August 1976 – 1 June 1984) was a seven-year-old English child who disappeared on 1 June 1984 while visiting a funfair in Wokingham, Berkshire. A widespread search of the Wokingham area, involving both police officers and British Army soldiers, did not locate him. Thames Valley Police initially suspected that his body was buried near Wellington Road in Wokingham, near the funfair from which he was abducted, but they now believe that he was probably buried in a shallow grave on abandoned farmland.
To publicise Tildesley's disappearance, a national poster campaign was launched, with one displayed in every police station in the country. The disappearance was publicised in national news and was featured in the premiere episode Crimewatch UK. Despite a massive public response, however, Tildesley was still not located.
In 1989, Tildesley's disappearance was linked to the Operation Orchid investigation into missing children. In 1990, as part of this investigation, it emerged that on the night he disappeared, Tildesley had been abducted, drugged, tortured, raped and murdered by a London-based paedophile gang led by Sidney Cooke. A member of the gang, Leslie Bailey, was charged with murder in 1991 and was given two life sentences after pleading guilty to manslaughter the following year; he was murdered in prison in 1993.
A memorial service for Tildesley was held and a memorial bench placed at the entrance to the fairground site. A headstone was also placed in a nearby burial ground.