How police know serial killer Robert Black ‘snatched’ missing schoolgirl 45 years ago – and why body may never be found
ON a warm summer’s day, Genette Tate was snatched while delivering newspapers so suddenly that the wheels of her bike were still spinning.
What followed was a desperate, 45-year hunt for the 13-year-old girl that became one of Britain’s longest missing probes.
Unlike some other cold cases, police know exactly who took innocent Genette as she delivered papers all those years ago in Aylesbeare, Devon – they just can’t do anything about it.
Officers had been on the verge of charging serial child-killer Robert Black with the teen’s murder at the time of his death in January 2016.
But due to a change in the Crown Prosecution Service‘s policy in posthumous charging decisions, the case could no longer proceed.
The blow meant some of Genette’s family, including dad John, have gone to the grave without ever getting justice for the schoolgirl.
Her loved ones have also suffered an agonising 45 years of not being able to properly bury Genette as her body has never been found.
Now, as Black’s crimes are explored in Channel 5 show The Child Snatcher: Manhunt, The Sun Online looks at Genette’s chilling disappearance.
On August 19, 1978, the schoolgirl had paused her paper round briefly to chat with two friends on Withen Lane.
She then cycled ahead of her pals, rounded a bend and was never seen again.
Her school friends found the bike on its side in the road with a bundle of newspapers scattered across the tarmac.
In a cruel twist of fate, the paper round wasn’t even Genette’s normal route but she had agreed to cover it as the usual paperboy was on holiday.
At 5pm that night, the teen was reported missing by her dad John and the largest search in Devon and Cornwall Police’s history was launched.
Officers quickly ruled out the possibility Genette had run away from home and said there was no evidence of a hit-and-run crash.
Her disappearance sparked wild theories as paranormal experts and psychics waded in but nothing concrete could help reunite the youngster with her heartbroken loved ones.
But eventually a breakthrough came when a Matilda Rogers, a policeman’s wife from Hull, and her daughter reported seeing Genette speaking to two pals shortly before she vanished.
Crucially, the mum and daughter saw a man driving a Maroon coloured car heading in the direction of the three girls.
This car, which was believed to be a Triumph 1300 or similar, remained the main focus of the investigation as officers scrambled for any credible leads.
They began a search not just for the car, but also for the driver – a young, smart-looking man with dark hair.
What officers didn’t know at the time was that notorious child killer Black not only owned a similar car but was spotted a short distance away at Exeter Airport on the morning of Genette’s disappearance.
The monster was working as a delivery driver at the time – using Britain’s roads to abduct and murder children before moving onto another town.
By 1994, Black’s kidnap, rape and murder of three girls was already known and the fiend was behind bars for life.
As the grisly details of his crimes emerged, it was easy to spot chilling similarities between the killings and Genette’s disappearance – even down to the white ankle socks she was wearing at the time.
But it was the echoes of Jennifer Cardy’s murder aged just nine that truly thrust Black into the frame.
The youngster, who was Black’s first known victim, was snatched as she rode her bike to a friend’s home in County Antrim in August 1981.
Like Genette, the discovery of Jennifer’s bicycle sparked a major search involving hundreds of police and volunteers.
While serving a life sentence for the murders of Susan Maxwell, 11, Caroline Hogg, five, and ten-year-old Sarah Harper, Black was convicted in 2011 of murdering Jennifer.
By this point police were certain he was their prime suspect and began compiling a fresh case for the CPS in the hope of charging the killer.
The 500-page report detailed how he once revealed to a prison guard he had visited Aylesbeare, even correcting the officer when he misheard him to confirm it was definitely Aylesbeare.
It also included the similarities between Genette’s disappearance and Black’s other gruesome crimes.
But when the monster died in prison in 2016, the CPS confirmed it would not be pursuing the case as it does not charge dead suspects.
Despite the decision, Devon and Cornwall Police remain adamant they know who Genette’s killer is.
Tragically this doesn’t help with finding the schoolgirl’s body as if Black was guilty, he took the secret to the grave with him.
His modus operandi was to take children from small rural towns close to the main road so he could dump their bodies hundreds of miles away – meaning Genette could be buried anywhere.
A spokesperson Devon and Cornwall Police told The Sun Online: “We have worked closely with the family of Genette over the years including during the investigation and subsequent appeals.
“As we have previously confirmed we were in the process of finalising a file for the CPS when Robert Black died.
“However, CPS policy is that they no longer offer posthumous charging decisions, so this has gone no further.
“We have been clear that Black was our only designated suspect and we approached the CPS with a recommendation to charge.
“Proactive investigations into this matter have been completed.”