Missing case becomes murder inquiry

Kevin Palmer was known as John Bon Jovi to his friends

Police searching for a man who disappeared more than four years ago launched a murder inquiry on Wednesday.

Kevin Palmer, from north-east England, was 37 when he was last seen in the Hoe Road area of Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, on 12 March 1999.

Detectives began digging up a garden in the street nine days ago. It used to be the home of John Howett, who was jailed last year for drug smuggling.

A 51-year-old man from the Bishops Waltham area was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and has since been bailed for further questioning.

Mr Palmer, known as John Bon Jovi to his friends, was living in Spain selling timeshares when he returned to the UK for a visit and disappeared.

We need to trace the taxi driver who was a vital witness Detective Inspector Alison Scott

On 12 March 1999, he travelled to Hampshire and visited the Sir Joseph Paxton pub in Hunts Pond Road, Locks Heath, and then went to the Abshot Hotel and Country Club with at least four other people.

He left the club at about 0100 GMT and ended up in a taxi with two other men and a woman, police said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The taxi stopped on the Botley Road after passing through the village of Burridge towards Bishops Waltham.

Three men got out but only two got back in following an argument.

The house belonged to convicted drug smuggler John Howett

Detectives say there is evidence Mr Palmer's body was later moved to Hoe Road.

Detective Inspector Alison Scott said: "This is the last time John Palmer was seen alive.

"Now we urgently need the public's help in filling in the missing gaps in what we believe were the last few hours of John Palmer's life."

"We need to trace the taxi driver who was a vital witness.

"Do you remember picking this group up from the Abshot Hotel and Country Club and the subsequent journey to Hoe Road?"

They also want to hear from anyone with any information about Kevin Palmer or details of a disturbance that night.

The murder inquiry was launched following a review of Mr Palmer's missing person's case by police in the north-east.