He Called Home From a Phone Box, Then Vanished / Michael Bell
They Walk Among Us - UK True Crime
They Walk Among Us
4.5 • 6.8K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1983, Michael Bell left a Scottish camping trip to head home to Birmingham. He called his parents twice. Then nothing. Over four decades later, he's still missing…
*** LISTENER CAUTION IS ADVISED ***
This episode was written by Rosanna Fitton. Research by Benjamin Fitton.
Edited by Joel Porter at Dot Dot Dot Productions.
Illustrations and production direction by Rosanna Fitton
Narration, additional audio editing and mixing, and script editing by Benjamin Fitton.
To get early ad-free access, including Season 1, sign up for They Walk Among PLUS, available from Patreon or Apple Podcasts.
More information and episode references can be found on our website https://theywalkamonguspodcast.com
SOCIAL MEDIA: https://linktr.ee/TheyWalkAmongUs
Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/theywalkamongus.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This episode contains distressing themes. |
| 0:10.0 | This podcast is intended for a mature audience. |
| 0:15.0 | Listener caution is advised. |
| 0:27.1 | In 1983, a young man from Birmingham packed his brand new camping gear and headed to Scotland with a friend. Partway through the holiday, he decided to make his own way home. |
| 0:34.6 | He never arrived. Welcome to They Walk Among Us, a podcast dedicated to UK true |
| 0:44.1 | crime. This is the 57th in a series of bonus episodes. |
| 1:03.8 | Michael Bell travelled to the island of sky on Saturday, May 7, 1983 with his work friend Ron Buck, |
| 1:07.4 | on what was intended to be a two-week-long camping trip. |
| 1:12.9 | The journey and Ron's mini had begun in Birmingham and included a pit stop at Michael's aunt's home in the scenic Lake District. To ease the journey of some 520 miles, |
| 1:20.9 | overnight stays were made at hotels along the way. Once on sky, the pair camped in the |
| 1:26.9 | village of Dunvegan on the northwest of the way. Once on sky, the pair camped in the village of Dunvaken on the northwest of the island. |
| 1:31.5 | May's weather was unpredictable, and heavy rain pummeled their tent for most of the time they were there. |
| 1:38.6 | Michael called his parents to touch base to let them know how the trip was going, but he wasn't brimming with enthusiasm. |
| 1:46.9 | He sounded disheartened when he spoke, telling them the break wasn't going so well. |
| 1:52.8 | He mentioned it was cold and wet, and he was uncomfortable. |
| 1:57.3 | They had chosen to visit Sky in peak midgy season and Michael just wanted to be at home. |
| 2:03.4 | He wasn't used to going on holiday. |
| 2:05.8 | In fact, he hadn't been away in years. |
| 2:09.5 | Conversely, prior to leaving for Scotland, Michael had seemed enthusiastic as he had purchased |
| 2:15.1 | some camping equipment for the trip. |
| 2:19.8 | His job didn't pay well and it wasn't the sort of expense he could usually spare, but Michael had recently received a bonus. Ron Buck |
| 2:27.0 | thought he would see a more positive side to his friend on the holiday, but going away did not |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from They Walk Among Us, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of They Walk Among Us and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.