Gone in two minutes – chilling tale of gran who vanished into thin air 34 years ago before eerie note appeared on bench
SCRATCHED into an old wooden bench, a cryptic message warns “justice awaits” those responsible for Trevaline Evans’ disappearance.
The gran, 52, had left work at an antiques shop for lunch, telling her customers she would be back in “two minutes”.
Trevaline was tragically never seen again after seemingly vanishing without a trace.
Her disappearance has led to a 34-year mystery, which deepened even further when the chilling message appeared in 2022.
It read: “Justice awaits those responsible for the removal and disposal of Trevaline Evans (in this life or next) from Rhuddlan Golf Club on March 19, 2019 at noon.
“May the Lord have mercy upon their soul.”
Even more compelling, it followed another message found at an abandoned miner’s cottage around 30 miles from Trevaline’s hometown of Llangollen in Wales.
Again, that note had been scrawled on a bench and made reference to the mum’s remains being moved from the golf club.
It said: “In memory of Trevaline Evans Vanished 16/6/1990. Found – Rhuddlan GC (Golf Club) 14/3/2019 Removed 19/3/2019 RIP.”
North Wales Police dug up at the bar at the golf club in the hope of solving the sad case but the search came to nothing.
This was despite two brothers claiming they had bought a camera that showed human remains under the floorboards.
Over the years, Trevaline’s disappearance has been linked to serial killers Robin Ligus and Christopher Halliwell but no trace of the mum has ever been found.
The horror began on June 16, 1990, after Trevaline opened her shop Attic Antiques at 9.30am.
Friends and customers who visited the store that day said she seemed happy and had made plans to go out that night.
At around 12.40pm, Trevaline put a sign up on the front door saying she would be “back in two minutes” – leaving her handbag, car keys and jacket behind.
The mum then bought an apple and banana – with her last confirmed sighting in the area at around 2.30pm that day.
Trevaline’s car was still at the shop and no money was ever taken from her bank account.
Her husband Richard returned from their holiday home in Rhuddlan that afternoon and was in the pub shortly before his wife was seen for the final time.
He reported her missing at around 11pm that night.
A huge search was launched as police combed through the River Dee, mine shafts and even caves in a bid to find her.
Police also hunted a “smartly-dressed” man who was seen with Trevaline the day before she vanished but he was never found.
As news of her disappearance spread, so too did rumours about her personal life – including about her marriage to Richard.
Some pals claimed Trevaline was not happy as unfounded claims swirled that she had been unfaithful.
In 2001, Richard, who has since died, was arrested in connection with his wife’s disappearance but was later released without charge.
The case became even more baffling when apparent sightings of Trevaline were reported in Australia, London and France.
However these all came to nothing – leaving police stumped over where the missing mum could be.
In 1992, Det Chief Insp Colin Edwards, who was heading the investigation, said: “It is without doubt the strangest inquiry I have ever been involved with.
“How a happily married woman could vanish without trace on a sunny Saturday morning in a busy town centre is totally baffling.”
Even more disturbing, after the case was reopened in 2001, Trevaline’s disappearance was linked to two notorious killers.
Robin Ligus was jailed for life after murdering three men in 1994 – four years after the mum vanished.
In a chilling twist, one his victims had been an antiques dealer just like Trevaline in a shop just 30 miles from her store.
However this theory was later ruled out – leading some to speculate whether Christopher Halliwell could be a suspect.
The serial killer began his criminal career in the 1980s by working as a window fitter to steal antiques.
He was working in North Wales at the time of Trevaline’s disappearance.
One local revealed last year how he had seen a man in the small town that day that bore an extraordinary resemblance to Halliwell.
He claimed the stranger was “acting strangely” and told police he saw him parked up in a camper van the following day.
The link to Halliwell was dismissed as his victims Becky Godden-Edwards and Sian O’Callaghan were both much younger than Trevaline.
But it was later suggested the monster’s “hatred” towards his mum, who looked like Trevaline, could have caused him to attack her.
As the hunt for a potential killer continued, a breakthrough came when brothers Andrew and Lee Sutton contacted police in 2019 to report Trevaline had been murdered.
Timeline of horror - how mum vanished into thin air
June 13, 1990
Trevaline returns to Llangollen after spending a week renovating her holiday home in Rhuddlan with her husband Richard.
June 16, 1990
9.30am:
The mum opens her store Attic Antiques as normal, parking her car around 200 yards away. During the morning she is seen by around 25 customers and friends.
Trevaline is described as relaxed and happy and made plans to go out that night.
12.40pm:
The gran leaves a note on the door of the shop saying she would be back in “two minutes”. Trevaline is seen talking to a smartly-dressed man.
She bought an apple and banana was seen crossing nearby Castle Street. A banana peel was found in the bin of her shop so it is believed she may have returned there.
2.30pm:
The final confirmed sighting is near her home on Market Street.
11pm:
Trevaline’s husband reports her missing.
June 17, 1990
A huge search is launched as officers search the River Dee, mine shafts and caves. More than 1,5000 names are checked and around 700 cars are eliminated from the probe.
Sadly no trace of Trevaline is found.
January 2001
The case is reopened by police in the hope new forensic techniques will lead to a breakthrough.
June 2001
Husband Richard is arrested but later released without charge.
September 2011
Police probe a possible link between Trevaline’s disappearance and convicted serial killer Robin Ligus.
However a potential connection is ruled out.
March 14, 2019
Brothers Andrew and Lee Sutton contact police to say they have information Trevaline was murdered and buried beneath Rhuddlan Golf Club.
They use a special camera to look underground and claim they have detected skeletal human remains including a hand and skull.
March 19, 2019
Police begin excavation work at the site and X-ray the floor of the club’s bar area but nothing is found. The brothers maintain the body must have been removed in the five days before cops showed up to dig.
January 2021
A message appears on a bench along the Prestatyn-Dysarth walkway four miles from Rhuddlan where the couple’s holiday home was.
It reads: In memory of Trevaline Evans Vanished 16/6/1990. Found – Rhuddlan GC (Golf Club) 14/3/2019 Removed 19/3/2019 RIP.”
May 2022
A second message appears on a bench – this time on a Prestatyn hillside at Pant-y-Fachwen.
The warning says: “Justice awaits those responsible for the removal and disposal of Trevaline Evans (in this life or next) from Rhuddlan Golf Club on March 19, 2019 at noon.
“May the Lord have mercy upon their soul.”
January 2023
TV show In the Footsteps of Killers suggests a link between her disappearance and killer Christopher Halliwell.
Working on knowledge they had received, the pair used a special camera that appeared to show a body buried beneath Rhuddlan Golf Club.
Bizarrely, when police carried out their own searches they found absolutely nothing under the floorboards.
The brothers claimed the remains must have been removed in the five days between them reporting what they had seen and the excavation.
Their claims were compounded further when the first creepy message appeared on the bench in 2021.
The bench is located along the Prestatyn-Dysarth walkway where the couple had a holiday bungalow. It is also just four miles from the golf club.
Then, the following May, the second note was etched on a bench where the ruins of a 200-year-old miner’s cottage sits.
Both brothers denied having any part in the messages and the mission to solve Trevaline’s disappearance goes on.