Missing Teen: 5 Years On

It's now 5 years since Luke Durbin from Suffolk disappeared and now police are telling Heart they're reviewing some of the evidence.

Luke Durbin from Woodbridge was at Zest Nightclub in Ipswich with friends when he went missing.

It was thought he was last seen on CCTV cameras heading towards the bus station in the town at 4am on the 12th May 2006, but officers doing the investigation say he was seen the next day as well.

He was seen on the Saturday 13th May 2006 in the Woodbridge area of Quayside. He was sighted in a car, which is being describes as a dark blue Renault Megane, between the times of 11am and 2pm. He was with a black male who was also in the car.

What we know about Luke's disappearance:

Luke who was 19 at the time of his disappearance, went out with friends in Ipswich on the evening of the 11th May 2006 when he and one of his friends went to Zest Nightclub in Princes Street in the town.

The friend Luke was in Zest with went to the bar to get drinks and when he came back, he could not find Luke and presumed he'd met a girl and left.

Luke was then seen at Ipswich train station at approximately 2.30-3am on the morning of the 12th May 2006. He was asked to leave the train station as there were no trains running at that time of night.

He was next seen in Hawk Express, which is a taxi rank on the other side of the town at 3.34am. He was trying to get home, but had no money on him so left the rank.

At 4am, Luke was then captured on CCTV in Dog's Head Street crossing the zebra crossing towards the bus station.

This was the last positive sighting of Luke.

Luke is described as being 5 foot 10, having blue eyes, brown wavy hair and having a slim build. He was wearing brown suede loafers, blue jeans, a black shirt and a reversible plum/grey top.

Other facts we know are that he was going to pick up his wages that day, but never got them and his bank account hasn't been touch since his disappearance.

Police are telling Heart that the focus of enquiries into his disappearance has now shifted following the discovery of further evidence.

In November 2010, detectives from the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team took on the case and reviewed the sequence of events and enquiries that had been carried out during the four years while also undertaking new lines of enquiry.
Original witnesses have been re-interviewed in a bid to ascertain whether they recall anything else that was not captured during the initial investigation. One of them has stated that they saw Luke being driven in a car by a black man in Woodbridge. Detectives now believe this sighting to be more significant.


Senior Investigating Officer, DCI John Brocklebank, has been left "extremely encouraged" by the co-operation from witnesses and is "hopeful" that new lines of enquiry can be unearthed:

"My primary role was to undertake a review of the original investigation, but as time went on it became apparent that there were other possible avenues of enquiry. So, it has come to this stage where I'm looking for a very specific degree of help from the public, especially those who live or who have lived in Woodbridge.
"We have information relating to a sighting of Luke between 11am-2pm on Saturday 13 May, 2006 in Woodbridge. This was a dark-blue Renault Megane. It was seen near the Turban Centre.

This changes the focus of our investigation quite considerably as we're now looking at a significant appeal window of Friday and Saturday daytime rather than Thursday evening and early hours of Friday morning. So, our appeal is for anyone who saw Luke on Friday 12 or Saturday 13 May, 2006 and especially those who saw him in Woodbridge on the Saturday.

I realise that we're asking people to jog their memories from five years ago, but we, together, with Nicki, want to know what happened to Luke. Nicki will be left without closure until she and we find out so we're urging someone to come forward so that she can bring an end to the torment in her life."

Luke's mother; Nicki Durbin, is hoping the new appeal will encourage people to come forward: "It is totally out of character for Luke to not make contact with me or his sister following a night out," said Ms Durbin. "With this new enquiry that the police are focusing their attention on, it does bring into question as to what happened to Luke from the early hours of Friday morning until Saturday afternoon and who he was with; and whether or not they know something about his disappearance. It is difficult to recall what you were doing five weeks ago let alone five years ago, but I would beg people to think back and if there is anything they can remember about the early hours of Friday morning to the Saturday afternoon regarding Luke, I would plead with them to contact the police.

Please, please, please let them make the decision as to whether the information you are sitting on is relevant and my family needs closure what that may be."

DCI Brocklebank added: "Although this still remains a missing person enquiry, we are looking at all possibilities of what has happened to Luke, which includes Luke being unlawfully killed."

Anyone with information in connection with the disappearance of Luke Durbin is urged to contact detectives from the Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team on 01473 782059 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or contact Nicki at findluke@hotmail.co.uk

Hear From DCI John Brocklebank