Body found in caravan in hunt for sex offender wanted in murder probe

A body has been found in the search for a Scottish sex offender wanted by police in connection with the murder of his partner.

Richard Scatchard was being hunted by police over the killing of Kelly Faiers in Minehead, Somerset in October 2023.

The 70-year-old hadn’t been seen since the day after Ms Faiers death outside of his home in Minehead.

A £10,000 reward had been offered for information that led to the arrest of the Scot on Crimestoppers’ most wanted list.

Kelly Faiers, 61, from Weston-super-Mare Avon and Somerset Police

Scatchard was convicted of sexual offences in which he administered drugs to his victims to enable his crimes.

He was described as a danger to the public, in particular to women he formed relationships with.

On Friday, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that a body believed to be that of Scatchard was discovered inside a caravan, near Cleeve Hill in Watchet on Thursday.

Detectives believe he died “some time ago” and said they were not aware of any suspicious circumstances.

Formal identification has yet to take place but both Ms Faiers’ and Scatchard’s families have been informed.

Detective superintendent Gary Haskins, of the Major Crime Investigation Team, said: “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. Specialist family liaison officers continue to provide support to Kelly’s family at this difficult time.

“A forensic post-mortem examination will be carried out in due course, but we believe the man’s death occurred some time ago. Until that 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.

“We would like to thank those people who have responded to the appeals for information we have issued over the past five-and-a-half months and will continue to update the public as our enquiries progress.”