A Bootle dad who vanished in to thin air 13 years ago is the focus of a ongoing murder investigation although police have never recovered his body.
On 19 August 2007, dad of three Raymond Shearwood spent the morning with his daughter.
He dropped her off at home in Bootle with her mother, before he drove to the Alt Park pub in Maghull at around 4.45pm that same day.
Mr Shearwood then got out of his green Ford Mondeo and walked over to a Golf sports edition that was parked beside the pub.
After that moment his mobile phone went dead and he vanished without a trace.
His car also mysteriously disappeared from where he had left it.
Mr Shearwood was a former amateur boxer and a keen footballer but he did have a criminal past.
In May 2005 he was jailed for drug offences and money laundering charges.
Police raided one of the six homes he owned in Sefton where they recovered £60,000 in a safe which contained traces of heroin.
When quizzed by detectives about where the money had come from, he told police he was a boxer and had won the money from prize fighting.
The court heard that between February 2002 and February 2003 he was said to have earned around £250,000 which he used to buy six properties.
He pleaded guilty to two charges of conspiring to supply drugs, money laundering and tax evasion.
During court proceedings, Shearwood's barrister said that he was not high up in the chain of drug dealers and was not the organiser of the conspiracy.
Judge David Boulton told him: "You must accept responsibility for being at least a wholesaler of class A and B drugs . You were highly trusted and must have been substantially close to the importation or the originator."
In March 1997 a jury at Liverpool Crown court cleared Mr Shearwood of conspiracy to supply heroin. Police claimed Mr Shearwod threw away two wraps of heroin during a foot chase. But he denied the charges and was found not guilty
Merseyside Police did make several arrests relating to Mr Shearwood's disappearance.
In 2008 a man from West Lancashire was arrested on suspicion of murder.
In 2009 a man from Crosby and another man from Litherland were arrested on suspicion of murder.
In 2010, a man of no fixed abode was also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
All four men were released without charge and there have been no charges in the case.
Police are still appealing for information
A Merseyside Police spokesperson said: "From a very early stage we have been treating this investigation as a murder inquiry rather than a missing from home.
"There has been no sign of Ray since and our inquiries led us to believe he has come to serious harm. But we remain as determined as ever to identify those responsible and bring them to justice.
"A murder investigation is never closed, and we are taking this opportunity to appeal again to the community for help with our investigation.
"We firmly believe that the answers lie within the local community. Allegiances may have changed over the past 13 years, people may have moved from the area or may be in a different situation, and now feel in a position to talk to the police.
"We will ensure that any new evidence or information is closely investigated by detectives.
"What we do know is that on Sunday, 19 August, Ray spent the morning with his then eight-year-old daughter before dropping her off at home in Bootle with her mother.
"At around 4.45pm the same day, Ray was seen parking his green Ford Mondeo (registration VK02 BHA) in the car park of the Alt pub in Maghull. We believe that he got out of this vehicle and walked over to a VW Golf sports edition which was also parked up.
“That was the last sighting or any sign of communication by Ray, so I want to take this opportunity to continue our appeal for anyone in that car park on the day, or who may have seen Ray since, and help us give his family some answers after all this time.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the social media desk @MerPolCC, call 101 or you can call or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111. You can also use their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.
