How mysterious clue helped cops solve ‘murder’ of Ricardas Puisys with stunning twist on 24 Hours in Police Custody

A MYSTERIOUS clue helped police solve the suspected murder case of a missing man.

Ricardas Puisys disappeared without a trace in 2015, leading cops to suspect he’d been killed or forced into slavery.

PARicardas Puisys who police feared had been murdered[/caption]

Channel 4Ricardas had no close friends or family in the UK[/caption]

Cambridgeshire PoliceRicardas was working at a farm when he vanished[/caption]

Channel 4Police never found a body[/caption]

But after a five-year hunt in which a man was arrested on suspicion of murder and then released, he was found alive.

And it came after a random development on social media.

Ricardas had moved to Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, from Lithuania several years before he vanished.

He was a casual land worker and lived from hand to mouth while in the area, and had no car and no close family or friends in the UK.

Ricardas was last seen on September 26, 2015, at Nightlayer Leek Company in Chatteris where he worked.

Witnesses claimed he was in the company of a small group of Lithuanian men before disappearing.

The alarm was raised when he failed to turn up for a shift two days later and his identification badge was found in a park.

Police launched a murder investigation in November 2015 after believing Ricardas was a victim of modern slavery.

The probe was launched despite no body being found as officers had “genuine concerns Ricardas came to harm that evening”.

Arrest and discovery

In December 2015, a man aged in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of murder but was later released with no further action.

Ricardas was then found in July 2020 – having been secretly living in a tent in the woodlands.

He had set up camp in undergrowth in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, after investigators received information he was still alive.

Police say he had “deliberately hidden” himself away, having previously been a victim of crime.

The makeshift home off a residential street was described as “very well concealed”.

Detective Chief Inspector Adam Gallop said Ricardas had been forced into a form of modern slavery by a man with links to organised crime, according to Mail Online.

Speaking to officers after he was found, Ricardas said he was violently beaten with a set of keys and a barbecue on two occasions by a man after arriving in the UK for work.

The man reportedly confiscated Ricardas’ passport and bank card and took money from his wages at the farm where he worked.

‘Fearing for his life’

DCI Gallop said Ricardas had been “keeping himself a prisoner in the woods after fearing for his life”.

Supt Gallop told the BBC: “While I always hoped we would find Ricardas alive, all the evidence led us to believe it was highly unlikely.”

He continued: “Given the fact no-one had seen or heard from him, our searches were focused on looking for his body and those responsible for his death.

“He had literally vanished and no-one ever saw him again.”

The lengthy investigation uncovered “disturbing details about the dark and dangerous world of modern slavery”, he added.

In November 2019, a Facebook account was created in Ricardas’ name, which Supt Gallop said “gave us hope”.

And at the end of the following June, the police received information leading them to search a wooded area, where he was found.

Supt Gallop said: “This was one of the most unusual cases I have ever led.

“When we found the Facebook page it gave us hope, but it still took time and a great deal of good detective work to discover the truth behind Ricardas’ disappearance and finally locate him.”