Welcome to part 2 of Wispers in the Trees, where we return to the Midlands of England

in the winter of 1943.

We are listening to unexplained, and I'm Richard McClean Smith.

As Christmas approached, at last, the authorities had something to work with, a name, or at least

the derivation of a name.

Now, the police began to focus their efforts on women with versions of the name Bella, who

may have gone missing around the autumn of 1941.

One woman was of particular interest, whose name Bella Lua, for a striking similarity

to the name Lua Bella, as depicted in the earliest of the graffiti linked to the case.

Bella Lua's friends had become concerned when they lost all contact with her after she

moved to Birmingham from Stamford Hill in London.

Although Lua's whereabouts were never officially established, she was eventually deemed irrelevant

to the case.

As for all the other missing bellers that the police looked into, they were found alive

and well.

Before long, the investigation hit a brick wall.

In defence of the Worcestershire Constabulary, 1941 was a difficult time to be keeping track

of British citizens, and with resources stretched to the limit, it is much to the credit of

the force that such an extensive investigation was conducted at all.

As the months passed and war eventually came to an end, the public interest in the case

soon diminished.

By the summer of 1945, with the nation celebrating an end to hostilities while mourning their countless

...