Car miles deepen mystery of missing student

Simon Bristow

THE mystery surrounding the disappearance of a student has deepened after it emerged his car had been found with hundreds of unexplained miles on the clock.

Russell Bohling, 18, who has a speech and language disorder, was last seen by his parents at 8am on Tuesday, March 2, when he left home in West Ella, near Hull, for Bishop Burton College, near Beverley.

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He never arrived, however, and his blue Renault Clio was later found abandoned 45 miles away at Bempton Cliffs nature reserve, near Bridlington.

It had 471 miles on the mileometer and was almost full of fuel, with 45.5 litres of diesel in a 50-litre tank.

His father Roger believes the unexplained miles and the amount of fuel in the car shows Russell could not have been acting alone.

The teenager, who is not thought even to have known where Bempton is, did not have enough money to travel that distance and leave the car with the tank almost full.

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He had filled it with fuel with the help of his mother Christine, 51, on the evening of Monday, March 1, when they stopped at a Morrisons supermarket in Anlaby, Hull, before he went swimming at East Hull baths – a 25-mile round trip.

Mrs Bohling specifically asked him to reset the mileometer so they could monitor the car’s performance, and recalls seeing the digits return to zero.

The car was not used again until Russell set off for college the next day. He had only 10 in his pocket and a debit card with 85 in the account, which has not been used.

“That must indicate that there’s another person involved,” said Mr Bohling, 57. “We are convinced Russell left home on Tuesday morning intending to come home on Tuesday night.

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“He set off with his overalls and boots, he hasn’t got any personal items and he’s got 10 in his pocket that my wife gave him the day before.”

The car, which has been taken away for examination, displayed a 3.50 all-day parking ticket, which had been bought on March 2 at about 11.30am.

It was seen parked in the Bempton car park by the site manager at 5pm that day, and was still there, unattended and with overnight ice on it when he returned at 7.30am the next day.

Mr Bohling believes the extra miles mean Russell could be anywhere within a 200-mile radius from Bempton.

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“We need to get down to what the facts are and try to find an explanation,” he said.

“The likelihood is this is somebody in Russell’s life. He doesn’t text, he doesn’t use the phone and he doesn’t do emails; it’s most likely to be somebody he physically meets and trusts.”

The second-year construction student only passed his test in January and borrows the car to get to college and visit friends.He has never stayed away from home before.

Mr Bohling also appealed for help in finding Russell from the birdwatching community, as the site is mostly used by dedicated birdwatchers in the winter.

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A spokesman for Humberside Police said: “Police are making inquiries into the movement of Russell’s car and tests are being carried out on the car.”

Russell is about 5ft 8in tall, of medium build, has short, brown hair and was last seen wearing a black Ben Sherman jacket, blue jeans and black leather trainers.

Anyone with information about his disappearance should call 0845 6060 222.

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