Detectives from Sussex Police investigating the murder of eight-year-old Vishal Mehrotra have launched a fresh appeal for information on the 45th anniversary of his disappearance.
The independent charity Crimestoppers is also issuing a reward of up to £20,000 for information they receive anonymously that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
Vishal was reported missing on 29 July 1981 having disappeared from Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London, on the wedding day of the then Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
The Metropolitan Police carried out a thorough missing persons enquiry over several months until Vishal’s remains were found in Alder Copse, a wooded area near the village of Rogate, on 21 February 1982. It then became a murder investigation, led by Sussex Police, working closely with the Met.
Over 45 years later, the case remains unsolved, and no one has been brought to justice for Vishal’s murder.
Vishal’s sister, Mamta Mehrotra, paid tribute to her brother, saying:
I was only a little girl when my brother Vishal disappeared, but the impact of losing him has stayed with me every day of my life.
For many people, this case is something they may have seen in the news, a documentary, or a podcast. For us, Vishal was not a headline. He was a son, a brother, a child with his whole life ahead of him. He was loved, and he is still loved.
More than four decades have passed, yet we still do not know what happened to him. We still do not know who took him from us or why. The years have brought no answers, only countless questions. What happened in those missing hours and days? Was there something someone saw but never realised was important? Has someone carried a memory, a conversation, or a secret all these years without knowing it could help?
The hardest part of living with an unsolved murder is that there is no ending. Time moves forward, but the questions remain. Every anniversary brings the same thoughts, the same “what ifs”, and the same hope that one day we may finally learn the truth.
Vishal has never been forgotten. He lives on in our memories, in our conversations, and in the determination of those who continue to seek justice for him. We owe it to the little boy who never came home.
If you know anything, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, please come forward. A detail that means nothing to you could mean everything to us. After all these years, one piece of information could finally provide the answers our family has waited a lifetime to hear.
Please help us bring the truth about those responsible for taking Vishal from us into the light.
Anyone with information about what happened to Vishal is urged to report it to Sussex Police online or via 101, quoting Operation Moor. Information can also be uploaded to police via the online Major Incident Public Portal (MIPP) or by following the QR code on the Sussex Police website here.
Raju Bhatt, Joanna Khan and Emily Hobhouse act for Mamta Mehrotra in her quest for some semblance of justice after all these years since her brother’s disappearance and murder.
