Mystery of pub skeleton continues

The skeleton was found in an outhouse at the pub

The inquest into the death of a south Wales landlady whose bones were discovered at her pub after she disappeared 27 years earlier has recorded an open verdict.

Mother-of-two Barbara Maddock vanished from Gurnos near Ystradgynlais in 1973 - it was thought she had left the Swansea Valley for Australia.

Three days of forensic examination took place

But builders renovating the Aubrey Arms, which Mrs Maddock ran with husband Bill, found a skeleton in a pub outhouse in August 2000.

After forensic tests, police confirmed the bones were those of 45-year-old Mrs Maddock.

The coroner at a hearing in Ystradgynlais magistrates' court said that due to a lack of evidence, an open verdict was the only available option.

Police had initially suspected the publican was murdered, but tests revealed high levels of drugs were in her remains.

Mrs Maddock's son, who took ownership of the pub, maintained that the remains were not those of his mother, until a forensic dentist from the University Hospital of Wales made the link.

Bones discovery

The testimony of Mr Maddock, who died in 1991, that his wife had left to settle in Australia was turned on its head by the discovery of the skeleton, which was lying among rubbish.

At the time of the find, Chief Superintendent Wyn Davies of Dyfed-Powys Police told a news conference both the pub and the outhouse had been thoroughly searched for two days after Mrs Maddock's disappearance.

The building had been used as a storage room for the pub up to 10 years ago, but then lay derelict.

However, there had been several reports of possible sightings of Mrs Maddock following her disappearance.