Tina Bell

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

cleveland-police

Offense Location:

Billingham, County Durham, England

Summary:

Tina Bell was an 18-year-old tomboy from Billingham who disappeared on June 2, 1989, after leaving home to visit a friend. Her partial remains were discovered on April 21, 1990, at ICI Cassel Works, with evidence that an attempt had been made to dissolve her bones with a corrosive chemical. The murder remains unsolved, with investigators questioning key suspects but never securing charges.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On the evening of Saturday, June 2, 1989, Tina left her parents' home in Crescent Avenue, Billingham, at approximately 8:20pm with a friend, planning to visit a friend's house briefly before returning to camp in the garden with her younger brother John. She wore blue jeans and a fawn-colored top and had no money with her. She left the friend's house a couple of hours later and was next seen by her cousin standing alone near a bus shelter in Mill Lane at the junction with Roscoe Road. Just before midnight, Tina visited a flat above a fruit shop in Mill Lane, where she was seen with Billy Dunlop (then 26), Vince Robson (37), and Colin Bond. At 12:30am on Sunday, June 4, she was seen alone near the bus stop at the junction of Mill Lane and Roscoe Road. At 1am she was sighted at the other end of Mill Lane walking alone across the recreation ground. The last sighting of Tina was at 1:30am walking out of Rydal Avenue, across Mill Lane towards the playing field. She never returned home.

Additional Details:

For ten months, Tina's family made repeated appeals and searches for her, with authorities eventually believing she had been murdered the same night she disappeared. On April 21, 1990, two youths out shooting pigeons at ICI Cassel Works discovered partial skeletal remains consisting of a skull, collarbone, and shoulder blade. Forensic examination confirmed the remains were Tina's. Evidence showed that whoever killed her had attempted to dissolve her body in a corrosive chemical, with traces of the chemicals found on the bones. A massive murder inquiry was launched involving 70 detectives and uniformed officers. A specially-trained dog from West Yorkshire Police was recruited to search the area, and a beck was drained at ICI's expense, but no further remains were found. Tina's remains were laid to rest at St Cuthbert's Church in Billingham in October 1990. An inquest concluded with an open verdict. In 1997, the National Crime Faculty conducted a countrywide review of unsolved female murders, prompting Cleveland Police to reopen the investigation. In October 1999, a £25,000 reward was offered for information. The two main suspects were Vince Robson and Billy Dunlop, who were the last two people seen with Tina. Billy Dunlop was later convicted in 2006 of murdering another Billingham woman, Julie Hogg, in 1989, after being re-tried under the landmark change to double jeopardy rules following a campaign by Julie's mother. Vince Robson, who moved to Hebden Bridge in 1990, later moved to work as a sound engineer at the Trades Club, where he was also reportedly one of the last people to see teenager Lindsay Rimer before her 1994 murder in West Yorkshire. A retired Cleveland Police detective, John Matthews, has held grave concerns about the case for many years and believes the connections between Robson and both the Bell and Rimer cases were too significant to be coincidental. However, neither Robson nor Dunlop were ever charged with Tina's murder. Robson died in 2005 at age 52. A 2023 Channel 4 documentary in the series "In the Footsteps of Killers" examined the case and linked Tina to a convicted paedophile living 300 yards from her home, though this theory has been questioned by the retired detective. Tina's parents Bob and Cath both died without seeing justice for their daughter. Her sister Angela Wade continues to seek justice and keep her sister's case in the public eye. The case remains under review by the Cleveland and North Yorkshire Major Incident Unit.

Case Last Updated:

May 11, 2026