Schoolgirl left to go window-shopping but never returned – then police made chilling find

Schoolgirl left to go window-shopping but never returned – then police made chilling findIt is 25 years today since Hannah Williams left her home in Deptford, south east London, before vanishing without a trace, until her badly decomposed body was found almost a year laterCommentsNewsLiam McInerney Content Editor 06:00, 21 Apr 2026View 4 ImagesHannah Williams suffered a brutal death (Image: PA)A woman who vanished from her home 25 years ago was discovered a year later after being murdered.‌If you thought this would have been a huge story at the time, you would be wrong, and the heartbreaking reality was that not a lot of people knew about the name of the missing schoolgirl, and we will get into the reasons why later.‌It was April 21, 2001, when Hannah Williams told her mum, Bernadette, who was a single parent, that she was going to Dartford for some shopping.‌The 14-year-old, whose parents split before she was born, came from a working class background in Deptford where she lived with her mother.Window shopping was something Hannah enjoyed and on this particular Saturday, which was just one month before her 15th birthday, it should have been no different.View 4 ImagesHannah Williams was targeted by a prolific sex beast (Image: PA)‌Sadly, Hannah never returned home, and although appeals were made in local newspapers, it was assumed that the teenager was a runaway who would eventually make her way back.Hannah had gone missing before and she also spent some time in care after being sexually abused by a partner of her mum’s when she was just four years old, according to The Guardian.But the mystery surrounding Hannah’s whereabouts was solved in March 2002 — when her remains were found in disused cement blocks at an industrial site in Northfleet.‌Her badly decomposed body was wrapped in tarpaulin and the monster responsible for her death intended for her never to be found.Prolific paedophile Robert Howard, who was originally from County Laois, Ireland, was the man respon...