Last bid to solve mystery of boy, three, who disappeared 80 years ago

A family has launched a last ditch bid to solve the mystery of a three year old boy who disappeared during a game of 'follow the leader' almost eighty years ago. Peter Greenwood disappeared on a seaside stroll with his brother and sister in Withernsea, East Yorks, on the evening of April 30, 1946

The trio had been playing a game of 'follow the leader' as they made their way home from a local cinema, but when older brother Bill turned around, Peter was gone. He was never seen again. Despite searches and years of appeals in the local paper, no trace of the child was ever found.

Now, eight decades later, his family have renewed their campaign to find out what happened to him. The fresh appeal comes two years after Peter's brother Bill tragically died, still not knowing what happened to him. Peter's great-niece, Kizzie Elliott, said she feels she owes it to her late grandfather, Bill, to keep the hunt for truth alive.

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Bill died in 2023 at the age of 86, having spent his entire life haunted by unanswered questions over his brother's disappearance. Ms Elliott, 36, said: "He carried a tremendous amount of guilt, because he was the eldest sibling and he felt responsible. I know it's something he never got over. I'm sure that he became very protective as a direct result of his experience with trauma as a young person.

"He never gave up on trying to find out what happened and make sure that Peter was remembered in some way. My grandfather didn't talk about it very often when I was a child - and I was aware that you would have to ask him about it in a particular way.

"It wasn't something you brought up conversationally, it was always very difficult for him. Now that I have a three-year-old child myself, it hits in a very different way. I can't imagine what it must have been like."

Just six months after Peter's disappearance, his mother Marion died at the age of 29 - overcome with the agony of the loss. At the time, newspaper reports suggested the little boy may have drowned, but Bill did not believe that his brother's life had ended in the water. Ms Elliott added: "My grandfather felt very strongly that Peter did not drown, which I can understand because otherwise the search would have focused on the water."

Her grandfather's efforts to locate official records, including his own police statement that he gave at the age of nine, hit dead ends. In the 1990s, he was told that all the case files had been transferred to York - and that they may have been destroyed.

But Ms Elliott said: "I've had a conversation with the cold case team at Humberside Police and they said they're hoping they will be able to find something in the archives. It's an enormous building and it will take some time."

In 2002, more than half a century after Peter's disappearance, Bill received an anonymous note claiming that someone had seen a little boy jumping from the seawall into the water. But the author of the letter never came forward again and Bill remained suspicious about the correspondence.

Ms Elliott, who lives in Surrey, said: "When my grandfather died two years ago, I took over the family documents and saw all of the paperwork. I realised I had it all at my fingertips and I should do something about it. As a result of the appeal, people in Withernsea have started thinking about the conversations they may have had with their parents and grandparents at the time, which has been wonderful.

"I know my grandfather would be absolutely overwhelmed with the support we've had after years of trying to find answers."

She added: "I'm hoping we will get to see the police statement that my grandfather gave as a child so that we can understand what he shared in that moment. I'd also like to understand exactly what type of search was conducted at the time.

"If something like that happened now, it would be a horror story for any parent. They'd never let their children go out on their own."