Melanie Hall

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Avon And Somerset (POLICE)

Offense Location:

Bath, Somerset

Summary:

Melanie Hall was a British hospital clerical officer from Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, who disappeared following a night out at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath on June 9, 1996. On 5 October 2009, a motorway worker found her remains in a plastic bin bag on a slip road at Junction 14 of the M5 motorway, including a skull, pelvis and thigh bone. She was declared dead in absentia in 2004. The case remains unsolved.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

On 8 June 1996, Hall had arranged to stay with her boyfriend Philip Karlbaum and went to Cadillacs nightclub in Bath with him and another couple. Hall was reported as having had an argument with Karlbaum, and he left the club "upset" after he allegedly saw her dancing with another man. Hall was last seen sitting on a stool in the club at around 1:10 am on 9 June 1996. One witness saw a woman who resembled Hall in Cadillacs nightclub, talking to a man and saw them leave together; at approximately 2 am on 9 June, two women witnessed a woman who looked like Hall arguing with a man outside the church hall; around the same time, another witness saw a man coaxing a woman, who may have been Hall, into the Podium car park. She was reported missing on 11 June 1996 by her parents after she failed to turn up for work.

Additional Details:

Avon and Somerset police launched several searches of the River Avon after her disappearance and interviewed thousands of clubbers and taxi drivers. A £10,000 reward was offered for information, and the BBC show Crimewatch and Crimestoppers both made appeals to the public for information, as did Hall's sister Dominique, but no trace of Hall was found. In 1998, suspected killer of Suzy Lamplugh John Cannan was questioned over the disappearance of Melanie Hall, known for his Bristol connections, after allegations came to light that he had plotted the murder of Hall from his prison cell at HM Prison Durham. In 2003, police arrested two men in connection with Hall's disappearance but they were released without charge. In 2009, a 37-year-old man confessed his involvement in Hall's murder to police in Greater Manchester, but was eliminated from the inquiry after undergoing psychiatric tests. In July 2010, a 38-year-old man from Bath was arrested on suspicion of Hall's murder and subsequently released on bail. On 25 November 2013, a 44-year-old man had been arrested at an address in Bath on suspicion of murder, and a property at Roundhill Park, Whiteway, was searched. On 28 November 2014 it was reported that there was insufficient evidence to charge the suspect. On 23 June 2016, a 45-year-old man was arrested following retrieval of DNA from where Hall's remains were discovered, and released on bail a few days later. By October 2019, eleven arrests had been made during the police investigation but no one has ever been charged. In October 2019, police revealed they had obtained a partial DNA profile from the rope wrapped around the bag containing Hall's remains and stated that they remained confident that Hall's killer would be caught. Her parents reinstated a £50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Police have also not ruled out links to the case of a serial sex attacker in Bath, nicknamed the "Batman rapist" after he left a baseball cap bearing a Batman logo at the scene of one attack, and an unknown assailant is known to have attempted to carjack a woman at knifepoint in the same area of the city a few hours before Hall was abducted.

Case Last Updated:

May 11, 2026