It has been almost 30 years since the death of child beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey, but the case remains unsolved.
The six-year-old girl was found dead in the basement of her family home in Boulder, Colorado on 26 December, 1996.
Despite numerous investigations and court cases, no one has ever been found guilty of her murder.
Channel 5 will be airing a two-hour long documentary Who Killed JonBenet Ramsey? A Suburban Nightmareon Thursday 26 September at 10pm, which explores the unsolved crime with unprecedented access to her father John, who is still pushing for answers to the identity of her killer.
Advertisement
Here’s what we know about JonBenét Ramsey and those associated with the case.
Who was JonBenét Ramsey?
Born on 6 August, 1990 in Atlanta, Georgia, JonBenét had already garnered a number of beauty pageant titles before her death including America’s Royal Miss, Colorado State All-Star Kids Cover Girl, Little Miss Charlevoix Michigan and Little Miss Colorado.
JonBenét Ramsey was a child beauty queen who was brutally murdered in her home in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo: AP)
Her mother Patricia (Patsy) Ramsey was a former beauty pageant veteran.
Early on the morning of 26 December 1996, her family had reported the six-year-old missing to police after discovering a ransom note.
The note demanded a payment of $118,000 from JonBenét’s father, John Ramsey, otherwise his daughter would be killed.
Advertisement
Businessman John Ramsey was the president of Access Graphics, a computer software company, at the time and the sum in the ransom note was identical to his Christmas bonus.
An initial search of the house by police did not locate JonBenét’s body and Mr Ramsey began making arrangements to pay the ransom.
However, during a second search of the house at lunchtime the same day Mr Ramsey found his daughter’s body in one of the rooms in the basement.
The Ramsey home where six-year-old JonBenét was found strangled in the basement. (Photo: Steve D Starr/Corbis/Getty) Images)
Her mouth had been covered in duct tape, a white nylon cord was tied around her wrists and neck and her body had been covered by a white blanket.
A post-mortem later revealed she had died from asphyxiation due to strangulation. She also had a fracture to her skull and evidence suggested she may have been sexually assaulted.
Advertisement
Her death was ruled to be homicide and the case remains open, with an ongoing investigation.
She was buried in Marietta, Georgia on 31 December, next to her half-sister from her father’s first marriage, Elizabeth Pasch Ramsey, who had died in a traffic collision several years earlier.
Her mother, Patsy Ramsey, died of ovarian cancer in 2006 and was interred next to her daughter.
John Ramsey wed for a third time in 2011 to Jan Rousseaux.
Advertisement
The grave of JonBenét Ramsey is in Marietta, Georgia. (Photo: Barry Williams/Getty) I
Who might have killed JonBenét Ramsey?
There have been two main theories surrounding responsibility for the death of JonBenét Ramsey – the first involves her family, and the second an intruder – as well as several theorised perpetrators.
The Ramsey family were heavily scrutinised during the initial investigation for a few reasons, while there were several pieces of physical evidence to support the theory that an intruder had broken into the Ramsey home and killed JonBenét – including a boot print found next to her body which did not belong to anyone in the family, DNA from an unknown male found on her underwear, and a broken window in the basement believed to be a likely point of entry.
John, Patsy and Burke Ramsey
Among the reasons that investigators looked into JonBenét’s family were questions over the ransom note.
Police reportedly felt the note may have been staged as it was unusually long, written using a pen and paper from the Ramsey house, and demanded a sum of money matching that which John Ramsey had recently received as a bonus – raising suspicions that it was written by someone who knew the family well.
John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenét, pictured with a reward sign for information leading to the arrest of their daughter’s murderer. (Photo: Helen H. Richardson/ The Denver Post/ Getty)
All three members of JonBenét’s immediate family – her parents, John and Patsy, and her brother Burke, who was nine years old at the time – were questioned by investigators and submitted handwriting samples.
John and Burke were both cleared of any suspicion of having written the note, and while Patsy could not be conclusively cleared by her handwriting sample, there was a lack of other evidence to support the theory that she had written it either.
Advertisement
The Ramseys were also reportedly reluctant to cooperate with police, but later said this was because they feared they would be targeted as easy subjects and that the authorities would therefore not conduct a full investigation.
In 1999, a Colorado grand jury voted to indict the Ramseys on charges of child endangerment and obstruction of a murder investigation, but the prosecutor felt the evidence did not meet the standard of being beyond a reasonable doubt and therefore declined to prosecute.
JonBenét’s parents and brother were never officially named as suspects in the murder.
John Ramsey (L) hugs his son Burke at the grave of JonBenet Ramsey after a graveside service for Patsy Ramsey in 2006 (Photo: Barry Williams/Getty)
Meanwhile, what was believed to be pineapple was found in JonBenét’s stomach by the coroner, and there was a bowl of pineapple in the kitchen which had Burke’s fingerprints on it.
The Ramseys maintained that Burke was asleep in his room all night, and there was no physical evidence to reflect otherwise, but a 2016 CBS documentary titled The Case of: JonBenét Ramsey appeared to imply he was the killer, theorising that he had hit his sister in the head with a heavy object after she stole a piece of pineapple from his bowl and that the ransom letter was an attempt to cover up the circumstances of her death.
Advertisement
Burke filed a $750m (£560m) lawsuit against CBS for defamation, with the case settled and “amicably resolved to the satisfaction of all parties” in 2019.
John Mark Karr
Among the possible suspects over the years was school teacher John Mark Karr, who was arrested in Thailand in August 2006 after confessing to JonBenét’s murder.
John Mark Karr during an extradition hearing at the Los Angeles Superior Court on 22 August 2006. (Photo: Mario Anzuoni-Pool/Getty)
He claimed to have drugged JonBenét before sexually assaulting and accidentally killing her, but this was later ruled to be a false confession when authorities could not find any evidence linking him to the crime scene.
Karr reportedly provided only basic, publicly known facts in his confession.
JonBenét’s autopsy did not indicate the presence of any drugs in her body, while Karr’s DNA did not match samples found at the scene and police could not confirm he was even in Boulder at the time.
Advertisement
Gary Oliva
In 2019, convicted sex offender Gary Oliva seemingly confessed to the murder, claiming in a series of letters and poems to have killed the six-year-old by “accident.”
Oliva, who at the time was in prison on child pornography charges, sent the letters to his former school classmate Michael Vail, writing in one that he “never loved anyone like I did JonBenét” and that he “let her slip, and her head bashed in half, and I watched her die.
He added: “It was an accident. Please believe me. She was not like the other kids.”
Vail also claims he received a phone call from Oliva on the day JonBenét’s body was found, saying he “just hurt a little girl”. Oliva’s former classmate said he informed police in Boulder of that call but it was reportedly not followed up on by investigators.
Advertisement
When Oliva was arrested on a drug charge four years later, a photo of JonBenét was found in his possession, but he was cleared of the murder as his DNA samples did not match those found at the crime scene.
Oliva had previously been arrested for sexually abusing a young girl in Oregon in 1990, and then spent more than a year in jail for attempting to murder his own mother by strangling her with a telephone cord.
Gary Oliva in court at the Boulder County Jail in Boulder, Colorado in June 2016 (Photo: Paul Aiken/Digital First Media/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
After his release, he moved to Colorado and was reportedly a drifter in the Boulder area, including near the Ramsey family home at the time of JonBenét’s murder.
Upon his 2016 arrest for uploading child pornography, he was found to have hundreds of images of and related to JonBenét, including photos of her autopsy.
When Vail received the letters containing the apparent confessions three years later, he alerted the authorities in Boulder and also released them to the public. Handwriting experts were commissioned by a private investigator, and last year reportedly found similarities between Oliva’s handwriting and the ransom note discovered inside the Ramsey home.
Advertisement
One of the experts told The Sun: “When you overlay some of those letters and words – words and letters from different eras of writing – and they line up so well, that’s a clear indication in my profession.”
Despite the recent developments, Oliva – who was released from prison earlier this year – has never faced charges relating to the case, with a Boulder Police spokesperson saying the department was “aware of and has investigated Mr. Oliva’s potential involvement in this case” but would “not comment on any actions or the status of this investigation.”
In the aftermath of the US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, online abortion services are facing global censorship on social media platforms. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Google have all allegedly restricted access to the websites of reproductive health organizations, according to a November 2, 2023 report by the Women’s Media Center.
Not only are Big Tech companies blocking sites that provide abortion information, but several national governments are also restricting online abortion information. For instance, Women On Web (WOW), a website that provides abortion information and services internationally, is facing blockages in South Korea, Turkey, and Spain.
The international legal organization Women’s Link Worldwide took the issue to the Supreme Court of Spain where the court ordered partial reinstatement of WOW’s website. However, the site remained blocked due to technical difficulties.
Advertisement
Women’s rights advocacy groups are calling the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade the catalyst for the suppression of reproductive health information on social media.
Hashtags for #mifepristone and #misoprostol, two drugs used in medical abortions, were hidden on Instagram after the Dobbs decision. Other posts discussing medical abortions were taken down on social platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.
There are currently bills under consideration in US state legislatures that would potentially ban websites that provide access to telehealth abortion care. As of 2022, 28 states already had bans or restrictions on the use of telehealth for medical abortions; and 7 states have complete bans.
Even beyond the United States, other countries’ governments are censoring reproductive health information. In Argentina, where abortion remains legal, Google has blocked ads regarding reproductive health.
Advertisement
Advocates also cite widespread misinformation as a dangerous threat for those seeking information about reproductive care. Crisis pregnancy centers (CPC), facilities that misleadingly represent themselves as reproductive health care clinics but do not provide abortion services, have spent $10 million on Google ads within the last two years. After many CPC ads were reported for disinformation, Google “claimed to have removed particular ads for fake clinics that violated its policies, but they did not take action on the systemic issues with fake clinic ads.”
The Center for Countering Digital Hate posted a report in 2023 detailing Google’s promotion of Google Search ads for deceptive fake abortion clinics.
Women’s rights organizations and reproductive health advocates have been forced to squander scarce resources fighting this sort of disinformation online. Reproaction, a national abortion advocacy organization, created the Reproductive Rights and Justice Movement Leaders Respond to ‘Big Tech’ Suppression of Accurate Abortion Information report; the report’s data highlights the digital suppression of reproductive justice content and the spread of disinformation online.
“It goes to show that our rights are at risk and how the fight for abortion access is moving online,” said Venny Ala-Siurua, executive director of WOW. “It also shows that sexual and reproductive rights are closely connected to our digital rights. The internet has become the main source of information around abortion, and access to high-quality and accurate information is critical for people to access abortion care and exercise their rights.”
Advertisement
In 2022, US Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) wrote to Meta and questioned what measures the company was taking to stop abortion censorship on their platforms.
As of mid-March 2024, there appears to be no corporate coverage of the issue. In November 2023, Medium, a social publishing platform, posted an op-ed written by Reproaction’s CEO, Erin Matson, about Big Tech abortion censorship. Source: Susan Buttenweiser, “Abortion Information Facing Online Censorship Globally,” Women’s Media Center, November 2, 2023.
Student Researcher: Olivia Rosenberg (North Central College)
Faculty Evaluator: Steve Macek (North Central College)
Simply sign up to the Japanese business & finance myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
Japanese stocks fell heavily on Monday as traders in Tokyo reacted to the unexpected emergence of Shigeru Ishiba as the country’s next prime minister and the possibility that he might hold a general election within four weeks.
The closely watched Nikkei 225 index fell more than 4.2 per cent in the first hour of trading, led lower by property and exporter stocks as the market assessed the impact of a new leader who has spent little of his long political career focused on economics but appears keen to raise corporate taxes.
Advertisement
Officials close to Ishiba were cited in Japanese media as saying that the incoming prime minister might call for a general election on October 27, adding to the uncertainty hanging over the Tokyo market. One ruling party official confirmed to the Financial Times that an October snap election was “among a range of possibilities under discussion”.
Ishiba will be sworn in as prime minister on Tuesday after unexpectedly winning an internal leadership election of the ruling Liberal Democratic party last week. Among the nine candidates who stood, 67-year-old Ishiba had been deemed by political analysts as the third most likely to win.
The Monday sell-off, which sent the Topix down 3.3 per cent, represented a reversal of the previous week’s rally and was in line with warnings by analysts that the immediate market aftermath of Ishiba’s victory was likely to be volatile.
Traders said disappointing economic figures added to the selling pressure. Japan’s August industrial production numbers released on Monday showed seasonally adjusted output fell more than 3 per cent, a far sharper drop than the expected 0.5 per cent decline.
Advertisement
Japan’s industrial output is still lower than in 2023 and more than 10 per cent below where it was before the pandemic, noted Stefan Angrick, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics.
“Business forecasts don’t offer much reason for optimism. Projections point to lacklustre production in September and a modest rebound in October that will barely make back the losses incurred this month. Japan’s manufacturers are in bad shape,” said Angrick, who noted that this and a poor run of recent data would now make life very difficult for the Bank of Japan and Ishiba.
Shares had risen by almost 5 per cent last week ahead of Friday’s LDP leadership election. The market had expected the winner to be Sanae Takaichi, who has advocated strongly for the BoJ to maintain its ultra-loose monetary policy and had intended to follow the market-friendly “Abenomics” playbook.
Much of Monday’s selling was focused on manufacturing companies or tourist-oriented retailers that were likely to be hit by a stronger yen.
Ishiba’s comments during campaigning suggest to traders that he is broadly supportive of the BoJ’s current trend of policy normalisation and interest rate rises, which have propelled the yen 12 per cent higher against the dollar since July.
Shares in the department store Isetan Mitsukoshi, a bellwether for luxury spending by foreign visitors, fell 11 per cent while its nearest rival, J. Front Retailing, fell 8 per cent.
Just when the prospect of peace in the Middle East seemed further away than ever, the dramatic death of longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah significantly alters the balance of power and offers a renewed opportunity for peace.
It is hard to overstate the significance of removing Nasrallah from the scene. He was a singular leader possessing a unique portfolio of charisma and strategic skills—in the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “He was not another terrorist, he was the terrorist.” His impact is a reminder that in an era where self-directed work teams, group leadership, and collective action are all the buzz, significant individuals can still have a profound impact on history. Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle said: “The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” It’s clear that by “great,” that would mean both virtuous and wicked.
When Nasrallah assumed leadership of Hezbollah in 1992, at age 32, taking over from assassinated co-founder Abbas al-Musawi, Hezbollah was still largely relegated to the fringes of Lebanese society. Over the next thirty years, Nasrallah and his acolytes systemically dismantled and subsumed the sovereign Lebanese government, with even no President since 2022, and wrought havoc on the Lebanese people with little support from the population. As noted by President Biden in calling Nasrallah’s death “a measure of justice,” Nasrallah was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Lebanese, Israelis, Americans, and Syrians during his bloody rule, and enjoyed little support from Arab neighbors, with the Arab League joining the U.S. and the E.U. in designating Hezbollah a terrorist organization under his watch.
Under Hezbollah rule, Lebanon has arguably turned from prosperity into a failed state, but with Nasrallah and much of the leadership of Hezbollah now gone, there is an opportunity for what is left of the Lebanese government and military to reassert control and rebuild a functioning state, for the benefit of the people of Lebanon rather than Iran.
Advertisement
But the broader opportunity comes from what has accompanied Nasrallah’s death—the systematic degradation of Hezbollah’s capabilities over the last month.
Recent history shows that criminal and terrorist movements rarely collapse with the removal of the top leader alone. The resurgence of Boko Haram has continued despite the killing of its leader Abubakar Shekau in 2021. Similarly, the resilience of Al-Shabaab after the U.S. killed one of its top commanders Maalim Ayman last year, and the flourishing of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel despite the imprisonment of leader El Chapo and his son, show that taking down one key figure does not always have a grave impact.
But what is far more effective is when the top leader’s removal is paired with the systemic hollowing out of a movement’s organizational capacity. Examples include the collapse of Al-Qaeda, culminating in the deaths of heads Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri, the collapse of Russia’s Wagner Group after its forced integration with the Russian military culminating in the deaths of head Yevgeny Prigozhin and his top deputies, and the collapse of ISIS after years of military defeats culminating in the death of its already weakened leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
And that is what has happened in Lebanon over the last month. Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded, making communications among Hezbollah operatives suspect. Strikes have eliminated Nasrallah’s presumptive heirs and leadership cohort, and with Hezbollah fighters focused on their own survival, they have been less capable of launching their missiles at Israel in numbers we were seeing previously. Israel has been under attack from what they estimate to be anywhere from 8,000 to 11,000 missiles fired by Hezbollah since Oct. 8, 2023.
Advertisement
The sudden, unanticipated degradation of Hezbollah has shattered tired, old assumptions that Iran’s most vaunted proxy was untouchable, catching the U.S.—and many others—by surprise, right as the global community was calling for a cease-fire. But even more importantly, it has exposed Iran and its proxies as paper tigers, tilting the regional power balance the furthest away from Iran and its allies in recent memory. One thing that is for sure: You can bet that Arab leaders will now be less fearful of Iran and its coercive abilities and will evaluate their options accordingly.
Of course, escalation remains possible, but Iran has always been wary of getting into a direct war with the U.S. Consider the reaction of Iran to the killing of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani in 2020 and the strike on Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year. The former produced a very limited retaliatory response, the latter still nothing. Deprived of its strongest proxy, the dramatically overestimated Hezbollah, Iran’s bluff has been called. Iran is left in deeper isolation in the Middle East, leaving the Ayatollah’s regime increasingly reliant on patronage from Russia and China. Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons remains a danger that requires Iran’s leaders to understand that they could risk its entire nuclear infrastructure if it continues. But the Iranian economy remains very weak and is being propped up by windfall oil production.
What does all this mean for the prospect of regional peace? Netanyahu needs to be able to translate Israel’s military achievements into political outcomes. He cannot let nationalists in his coalition define what is possible in Gaza and the West Bank. But now, given Israel’s actions against Hezbollah, Iran-backed proxy groups will no doubt be worrying about their own security, or lack thereof, with the myth of Iran’s protective shield irrevocably punctured. Israeli security insistences which may have previously seemed indigestible may not be as intolerable when measured against the humiliation inflicted upon Hezbollah, and by extension, Iran.
The last few years have been marked by roads to peace not taken, and while the opportunity for peace looms large, whether that opportunity is realized will largely come down to the regional participants themselves. After so many missed opportunities, it is hard to be hopeful. However, even without any official accord, the removal of Hezbollah’s Nasrallah, paired with the complete degradation of Hezbollah, promises a new day ahead for the Middle East.
Stocks in Japan fell sharply after the country’s governing party chose a leader some view as hawkish on interest rates, underlining how central bank decisions continue to set the course of the world’s fourth-largest economy after decades of easy money policy.
On Friday, Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party elected Shigeru Ishiba, a proponent of raising interest rates to help curb inflation, as Japan’s next prime minister.
Mr. Ishiba narrowly defeated Sanae Takaichi, a disciple of Shinzo Abe, who remains committed to the former prime minister’s longstanding policies aimed at strengthening Japan’s economy by maintaining ultralow interest rates.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell more than 4 percent in early trading on Monday.
Advertisement
Some economists said the decline, which they described as the “Ishiba Shock,” was caused by the unwinding of stock trading that reflected expectations that Ms. Takaichi would be elected.
The market jitters show how the recent L.D.P. election came at a pivotal moment for the Japanese economy.
Following a recent surge of inflation, the Bank of Japan has raised interest rates twice this year. The bank’s governor, Kazuo Ueda, has indicated he plans to continue increasing rates, though it is unclear how quickly that might happen.
This month, the Bank of Japan held rates steady, with some suggesting it was waiting for political dynamics related to the L.D.P. election and other factors to stabilize.
Advertisement
In recent years, the significant gap between Japan’s rock-bottom interest rates and higher rates in the United States has led investors to seek higher returns outside Japan.
This has weakened the yen, which in turn lifted the share prices of major Japanese companies that benefited from the bump up in their profits overseas.
Some economists and analysts have questioned whether the rise in Japanese stocks over the past two years was a bubble driven by the weak yen.
Given Ms. Takaichi’s criticism of the Bank of Japan’s rate increases, the stock market rally seemed poised to continue. On Friday, after Ms. Takaichi took the lead in the first round of voting, the yen quickly weakened and Japan’s benchmark stock index rose.
Advertisement
The movements in the yen began to reverse when Mr. Ishiba was elected after Tokyo markets closed for the day. The yen was trading at around 142 to the dollar on Monday, compared to more than 146 on Friday.
In comments on Friday evening, Mr. Ishiba reiterated his belief that to bolster Japan’s economy, interest rate increases, rather than cuts, would be necessary to help bring down inflation and stimulate sluggish consumer spending.
Mr. Ishiba, who is set to take office on Tuesday, also addressed other major focuses, including supporting Japan’s regional economies and encouraging the relocation of production bases back to Japan.
Major banks believe that Monday’s market movements may represent the extent of big reactions to the L.D.P. election. Mr. Ishiba appeared to attempt to calm investors over the weekend by saying that borrowing in Japan should remain relatively low-cost.
Advertisement
Barclays researchers wrote in a note that Mr. Ishiba is likely to respect the independence of the Bank of Japan’s interest rate decisions. They maintained their forecast for a bump up in interest rates in January.
AS the winter months approach, many Brits will be looking to escape the cold and enjoy a last minute break in warmer climates.
With many regions in Spain averaging temperatures between 20-25C October to December, the Caravan and Motorhome Club is offering members the opportunity to book a winter sun stay at a beautiful Spanish campsite.
6
Alannia Costa Blanca, near Alicante, is perfect for those seeking a lively social sceneCredit: alanniaresorts
6
Advertisement
Vilanova Park was a former farm, but now has three pools, including two outdoor pools and a pool with a sea viewCredit: vilanovapark
6
Vilanova Park also has a gym and sauna, and lots of social activities going on, including salsa classes and ZumbaCredit: vilanovapark
The campsites below all offer luxury facilities – heated pools, plush restaurants and state-of-the-art gyms.
Spaces are still available at some locations and prices start from just £15.50 a night.
Vilanova Park in Barcelona
Situated near the bustling city of Barcelona, Vilanova Park is a large campsite with lots of facilities and activities going on.
Advertisement
It was a former farm, but now has three pools – two outdoor pools, a pool with a view of the sea, and an indoor pool with a jacuzzi – a gym and a sauna.
Read more on winter breaks
There’s a strong emphasis on social activities, with an aqua gym, Zumba, salsa classes and bingo nights going on.
Evenings can be spent eating in the campsite’s Catalan restaurant and bar.
The site is also in a great location for visiting Barcelona, which can be reached by transport links or car.
Advertisement
Availability: All dates from January 18th to April 4th.
Price: From £15.50 per night for two people staying 60 nights or more.
6
La Media Lagua in Benidorm has high quality, modern facilitiesCredit: lamedialeguacamping
6
Advertisement
Facilities at La Media Lagua include an outdoor pool for campers to cool down in during the summerCredit: lamedialeguacamping
La Media Lagua in Benidorm
La Media Legua campsite can be found in between the popular resorts of Benidorm and L’Albir on the Costa Blanca.
The Spanish campsite right on a Caribbean-like beach
It offers a range of high quality modern facilities, including an outdoor pool for campers to cool down in during summer, and a heated indoor pool for colder months.
Farmhouse is its onsite restaurant and bar that serves local dishes within a relaxing atmosphere.
There’s a gym for those that want to stay active, with panoramic views of the whole campsite.
Advertisement
An onsite supermarket makes sure campers have everything they need.
And beautiful beaches, lively nightlife, and family attractions, like Aqualandia and Terra Natura, are all nearby.
Availability: All dates from January 12th to March 29th.
Price: From £18.50 per night for two people staying 31 nights or more.
Advertisement
6
Alannia Costa Blanca’s outdoor pool features some big slides – lots of fun for a family holidayCredit: alanniaresorts
Alannia Costa Blanca near Alicante
Alannia Costa Blanca is one of the largest campsites in Spain, about a half an hour drive from Alicante.
Because of its location, it’s best suited to those seeking a lively social scene.
British couple holiday in a Spanish caravan park every winter as it’s cheaper than staying in the UK
Advertisement
Mike Townsend and his wife Jane said holidaying in Spain during this time of year is much cheaper than staying in the UK…
Mike and Jane have been spending their winters in Spain the last two years.
In April 2021, Mike and Jane purchased a four-birth Elddis motorhome, with a fixed bed at the back for extra comfort.
He told Sun Travel: “Our plan was to explore the UK for two or three years because there are so many great places here that we haven’t been to.
Advertisement
“But two of our friends, who already owned a motorhome, asked if we wanted to go on holiday in Spain.”
On their first motorhome holiday in Spain, they spent five weeks exploring the country.
And when the couple returned to the UK, they started planning their next campervan adventure.
Mike said: “Earlier this year, we spent five weeks driving through Spain and Portugal before we got the ferry back from Santander.”
Advertisement
“On our winter breaks, we try and stay at campsites that are associated with the Caravan and Motorhome Club.”
The breaks, which include a return ferry crossing with P&O from Dover to Calais, mean Brits spend six to 10 weeks in sunny Spain.
Mr Townsend explained: “We go in February and March to avoid the winter weather here in the UK, and we don’t have to pay for heating.”
Advertisement
It has more than 1,000 pitches, over 200 quality cabins to stay in, and plenty of modern amenities, including a hair salon, supermarket, gym and spa.
There’s also outdoor and heated pools with slides, restaurants, pubs, kids clubs, and playgrounds – everything you could need for a great family holiday.
Availability: From February 26th to March 29th.
Price: From £17 per night for two people staying 31 nights or more.
For Daniel Guerra, an aspiring Brazilian sailor keen to travel the world, the job ad was a dream come true.
A British yacht owner was seeking two deck-hands to help sail his boat from Brazil across the Atlantic, one of the great ocean journeys.
There would be no salary, but all expenses paid – and, crucially, Mr Guerra would gain some of the sailing experience he needed to qualify as a sea captain.
“My dream was to become a captain and go work in Europe,” remembers the 43-year-old, who saw the advert from an online sailing recruitment agency.
“So I was super happy, knowing that my path to my dream was beginning.”
Advertisement
Things looked even better when Mr Guerra and his fellow recruit, Rodrigo Dantas, 32, met their new British employer.
They had feared he might be some snobbish yachtie or posing Instagrammer, who would make sure they knew who was boss.
But no. George Saul was a smiling, friendly figure, who did not insist on formalities. The sailors, he said, could even call him by his nickname – “Fox”.
“I used to work on some boats and the owners were old, super demanding, super rude and talked down to me,” adds Mr Dantas. “He was like, very cool, very friendly.”
Advertisement
Daniel Guerra
George Saul (C) asked the sailors – Daniel Guerra (L) and Rodrigo Dantas (R) – to call him by his nickname “Fox” and they were impressed by his friendliness
Fox even passed the approval test of Mr Dantas’s parents, who were worried about their son doing such a long journey on a yacht owned by a total stranger, and asked to meet him for themselves.
To borrow the old sailing expression, they liked the cut of his jib. They learned that Fox had brought the Rich Harvest over to Brazil for renovations, and wanted a competent crew to sail it back to Europe on his behalf.
As well as the rookies, Mr Dantas and Mr Guerra, there would be two others, including a qualified captain.
“I said: ‘Look, watch out for my son’,” remembers Mr Dantas’s father, João. “He said: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of Rodrigo.’”
Advertisement
As it turned out, his parents were not the only ones who wanted to check that all was well on board the Rich Harvest.
Before the departure from Brazil, local police spent around six hours searching the yacht for drugs, with the help of a sniffer dog.
They did not find what they were looking for, though, and the sailors assumed it was just a routine check.
They had heard stories about cocaine being planted on boats, and now at least knew they were in the clear.
Advertisement
“When you travel through an airport… your bags go through the X-ray machine,” says Mr Dantas. “So I thought, well, it’s an international trip and they’re coming to inspect the boat.”
Brazil police
The Rich Harvest was searched by police for six hours before leaving Brazil
Such worries were far from their mind when they eventually embarked on their epic journey on 4 August 2017, the Brazilian coastline slowly receding behind them.
With them were an additional crew member, Daniel Dantas (no relation of Rodrigo Dantas) and the yacht’s newly hired captain, Frenchman Olivier Thomas, 56, a replacement for a previous British captain whose sailing skills had not proved up to scratch.
Fox, meanwhile, had made his way back to Europe by plane two days before.
Advertisement
“It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, sun,” recalls Mr Guerra, who posted a message of thanks to Fox on his Facebook page.
It read: “I’m really grateful, Fox, for this… chance to learn and for our bond that has made me stronger. Thanks mate.”
After two weeks of sailing, the yacht developed engine problems, forcing it to stop in Cape Verde, an archipelago off the coast of West Africa.
Once more, Mr Guerra and Mr Dantas found reasons to look on the bright side. The islands are a tourist paradise, and Fox said he would wire them money to enjoy themselves while repairs were done at a local marina.
Advertisement
And when yet more police came to search the vessel, Mr Guerra was not worried.
“They didn’t find anything in Brazil,” he thought to himself. “They won’t find anything in Cape Verde either.”
The Cape Verdean police were even more thorough than their Brazilian counterparts, using specialist cutting equipment to open up the yacht’s innards.
Hidden inside below false floors, they found nearly 1.2 tonnes of cocaine – worth an estimated £100m ($134m) if sold on Europe’s streets.
Advertisement
“I felt that all my freedom was going down the drain,” said Mr Guerra. “I was furious, couldn’t accept what was happening, you know? I’d been really fooled.”
In March 2018, the crew went on trial in Cape Verde, protesting their innocence.
They had never even heard of Rich Harvest or its owner until they answered the job advert, they insisted.
They were sentenced, however, to 10 years in jail each – in what was hailed as one of the country’s biggest busts.
But while the haul was impressive, the man Brazilian police regarded as the big catch got away.
Advertisement
They believed that the mastermind of the operation was Fox, whose yacht was first drawn to their attention by a tip-off from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).
Brazilian police believe he was the leader of the operation to smuggle the drugs.
Cape Verde police
These are just a few of the cocaine packets officers in Cape Verde discovered hidden under the Rich Harvest’s fake floors and in fake water tanks
In August 2018, Fox was arrested in Italy, where Brazilian police filed extradition proceedings. They wanted him to be returned to Brazil to answer the allegations against him.
But the paperwork arrived too late, and he was freed – much to the frustration of Brazilian police inspector Andre Gonçalves.
Advertisement
He feared that Fox had subsequently gone into hiding.
“We were left with that feeling that after all our work, we’d never get to the bottom of it,” he told the BBC. “It was very, very frustrating.”
Mr Gonçalves said his team had kept both Fox and the yacht under surveillance in Brazil. They believe the “renovations” on the boat were partly to fit it with secret compartments, and that the drugs were loaded on to the vessel before the sailors were hired.
Mr Gonçalves admits that at first, he presumed the four sailors were involved too.
Advertisement
“If someone is on a boat that’s full of drugs, you think that person must have something to do with it,” he said.
But as he dug into their backgrounds, he could find nothing previously linking them to the drug world or to Fox.
“The deeper I went I still couldn’t find a connection… but at the same time it strengthened the evidence we had against Fox.”
The sailors’ pleas of innocence also got backing from an unlikely source – fellow Briton Robert Delbos, a man who was alleged to be an accomplice of Fox.
Advertisement
Delbos, 71, is a convicted drug trafficker, having been jailed for 12 years in 1988 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of cannabis into the UK.
Before the Rich Harvest left Brazil, Mr Gonçalves’s team observed Delbos supervising the first stages of the yacht’s renovations.
They initially suspected he was fitting secret compartments, and filed successful extradition proceedings for him around the same time as those against Fox.
Advertisement
Delbos spent months in a Brazilian supermax prison awaiting trial, but he too said the drugs were later planted without his knowledge.
He was acquitted after the judge in his case ruled it could not be proved that he knew about the smuggling plan.
In an interview with the BBC, he claimed that even drug traffickers had codes of ethics, and that Fox had violated them by using innocent sailors as mules rather than hiring professional smugglers.
“This is completely beyond the pale. I mean, you don’t do this,” he said.
Advertisement
“He was a stupid man who was greedy. Instead of paying the crew properly and getting himself a professional, bloody smuggling crew – he hired four innocent guys.”
As doubts about the sailors’ guilt grew, their families began a campaign on their behalf, which became a cause célèbre in Brazil.
In 2019 their convictions in Cape Verde were overturned, and they were allowed to go home.
Fox, meanwhile, has never faced trial, and returned to the UK.
Advertisement
George Saul
A selfie of George Saul, AKA Fox, posted to his Instagram
The 41-year-old lives in Norwich in eastern England where he grew up, attended college locally, and was an accomplished amateur yachtsman – sailing off the nearby Norfolk coast.
Today, he resides in a Norwich suburb and runs a property firm.
He belonged to a local business networking association, and on his social media feed last March, posted photos of himself with the city’s then Lord Mayor, James Wright.
There is no suggestion that Mr Wright was aware of the accusations against Fox.
Advertisement
The BBC tracked Fox down as he arrived at one of his networking association’s weekly business breakfasts, at a Norwich hotel.
He declined to comment on the Rich Harvest and the sailors’ ordeal.
Asked about the allegations that he was a drug trafficker, he replied: “I’m not.”
An NCA spokesperson said if Brazilian police still wished to pursue the case, they would have to file an extradition request.
Advertisement
Brazil’s ministry of justice said it did not comment on individual cases.
Meanwhile, Rodrigo Dantas and Daniel Guerra are trying to rebuild their lives in Brazil, their dreams of becoming yacht captains abandoned.
Brazil police
The dreams Daniel Guerra (L) and Rodrigo Dantas (R) toasted to in 2017 are long gone
Mr Dantas says he struggled to find sailing work on his return home, with some employers assuming he must have been guilty after all.
Mr Guerra’s round-the-world sailing ambitions “stayed locked up in Cape Verde”.
Advertisement
He says he lost his ability to trust people, vital during the challenges on any long yacht voyage.
Even now, he still wonders who Fox really was – that “cool” British guy he once felt so grateful to, whose job advert then turned his life upside down.
He says that he would “really like to see justice done”, but has no wish to meet Fox ever again.
“If I meet him, it won’t be me who’s going to talk. It will be another Daniel. All the bad feelings I had in jail will come up and I won’t be able to be a civilised person.”
Advertisement
Coming in October World of Secrets, Season 5: Finding Mr Fox.
A jointBBC Africa Eye, BBC Brasil and World of Secrets podcast investigation into a plot to smuggle cocaine valued at more $100m to Europe.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login