How a diary entry solved the murder of a missing man
A six-year-old murder case involving the disappearance of Richard Dyson was solved after police discovered a diary entry mentioning a cattle trailer. Two men, Christopher Wright and Karl Schwalbe, were convicted and sentenced for their roles in the crime.
Why it matters
The case highlights the role of meticulous investigative work and archival evidence in resolving cold cases.
Image caption, Richard Dyson (left) vanished without a trace in 2019 and Christopher Wright (right) was found guilty of his murder in July this year
When Det Con Tom Ryan came across a diary entry about an old cattle trailer in July 2025, he knew he had finally solved the murder of a man who had disappeared six years earlier.
Richard Dyson vanished without trace in November 2019. He was last seen alive on 17 November that year and was reported missing eight days later when he failed to meet his daughter, Bethany.
"He was by all accounts a very good father, and he was regularly in contact with his daughter Bethany who was, I believe, 19 at the time of his disappearance. It was totally out of character," Ryan recalled.
"It was clear that he had disappeared off the face of the Earth."
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