Aigburth couple disappearance: five-week search leads to woods 2026

Key Points

• Gary Pettitt, 25, and Jean Larkin, 24, disappeared from their Aigburth flat on 27 April 1993 after leaving at 8.30pm.
• A five-week missing persons investigation spanned Merseyside and Lancashire before police concluded the pair had been murdered.
• The couple’s Calypso Blinds van was found abandoned at Manchester Airport and had earlier been spotted near Coppull woods, Chorley.
• Detectives traced the pair to a restaurant rendezvous in Chorley and said Gary Pettitt had become involved in drug dealing.
• In June 1993, police announced the couple were believed murdered; excavation in Coppull woods found hair, jewellery, bone fragments and teeth linked to Gary Pettitt.
• Seven brass shotgun cartridge cases were recovered; four were matched to a gun borrowed by drug dealer Frank Mullen.
• At Liverpool Crown Court in October 1994, brothers Frank Mullen, 33, and Jimmy Mullen, 26, were convicted of murder after witness testimony, including from Kevin McKenna.
• Both received life sentences; Frank Mullen also received an additional 14 years for conspiracy to import ecstasy.
• Detectives told the Liverpool Daily Post the brothers may have been inspired by the 1983 TV film Murder in Coweta County.
• Jean Larkin’s father Kevin Larkin and Gary Pettitt’s mother Marie Pettitt gave statements describing their anguish after the bodies were not initially found.

Aigburth (Liverpool standard) September 05, 2026 – A five-week search for a young couple who vanished from their Aigburth flat in 1993 led detectives to woodland near Chorley, where investigators ultimately concluded Gary Pettitt and Jean Larkin had been murdered and their remains burned in an attempt to conceal the crime. The case, which crossed force boundaries between Merseyside and Lancashire, became one of the region’s most closely followed missing persons investigations before turning into a double murder prosecution.

How the disappearance unfolded in Aigburth

Gary Pettitt, 25, and Jean Larkin, 24, left their Aigburth home at 8.30pm on 27 April 1993, in what appeared to be a routine evening outing. When Jean’s father visited the following day, he found their dog unfed, lights on and the television still running in an empty living room, prompting immediate concern. Though it was believed the pair had left willingly, exactly where they had gone was unknown, and no clear destination or plan was established by family or friends.

As reported by Liverpool Echo staff, the couple ran a window blinds business under the name Calypso Blinds, and their company van was later found abandoned at Manchester Airport. Investigators subsequently learned the van had been spotted parked near Coppull woods around the time of the disappearance, a detail that would later prove significant.

Where the investigation led: from Merseyside to Lancashire

A formal missing persons inquiry was launched and expanded across regional borders as detectives pursued leads in both Merseyside and Lancashire. According to reporting in the Liverpool Echo, officers traced the couple to a restaurant rendezvous in Chorley, establishing their last confirmed movements before vanishing.

Detective Chief Inspector John Kerruish, of Merseyside Police, appealed for information and stated: “Mr Pettitt was not previously known to the police, but we believe he became involved in drug dealing and got out his depth.” This assessment pointed investigators towards a drugs-related motive as the inquiry progressed.

What police found in Coppull woods

In June 1993, Merseyside Police announced they believed Gary Pettitt and Jean Larkin had been murdered and that their bodies had been burned and buried in woodland. An excavation of Coppull woods confirmed forensic evidence including hair and jewellery belonging to the couple, alongside bone fragments and teeth matched to Gary Pettitt.

As outlined in Liverpool Echo coverage, the couple had been murdered, buried in shallow graves, then exhumed and set on fire in a final attempt to destroy evidence. Seven brass shotgun cartridge cases were recovered at the scene, with four matched to a gun borrowed by drug dealer Frank Mullen, who reportedly claimed he wanted it “to shoot rabbits”.

Court case: who was convicted and what was heard

At Liverpool Crown Court in October 1994, prosecutors set out the case against Frank Mullen, 33, and his brother Jimmy Mullen, 26, both from Old Swan. As reported by Liverpool Echo journalists covering the trial, the brothers had left a friend’s house in Chorley on the evening of 27 April 1993 wearing camouflage gear, returning at 11.30pm “sweating profusely” and “psyched up as if they were on drugs”, according to prosecutor Henry Globe QC.

The next day, Frank Mullen returned the borrowed shotgun; both barrels had been fired and around half a dozen cartridges were missing. It was alleged that the brothers murdered Gary Pettitt over a drugs dispute, with testimony suggesting Gary had become involved in an ecstasy distribution racket and had supplied Frank Mullen with thousands of pills.

Frank Mullen’s friend Deborah Ryan testified that, on the night of the murder, Frank asked her to invite Gary to Chorley for a drink;

Gary initially refused but later agreed when asked by Deborah. Frank and Jimmy Mullen denied murder but were convicted on the strength of multiple witness accounts, including from their former friend Kevin McKenna, who said Gary had been kidnapped and tortured for drugs money. Jean Larkin, according to trial reporting, was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Both brothers received life sentences for the killings, and Frank Mullen was handed an additional 14 years for conspiracy to import a class A drug (ecstasy).

What families said after the convictions

Jean Larkin’s father, Kevin Larkin, described the agony of not knowing his daughter’s fate during the search, telling the Liverpool Daily Post: “The worst thing is not knowing. Sometimes I just stand on my front step when it is raining and I look out towards the woods opposite and I think, ‘my Jean could be out there in those woods with all that rain falling on her’.” He added: “Never in my wildest dreams was I prepared for what I was told had happened to them. Especially when they did not find any bodies. We are struggling to come to terms with what has happened.”

Gary Pettitt’s mother, Marie Pettitt, said:

“I just keep thinking they will come home. You expect them to be at the door every time someone knocks.”

These statements, recorded in contemporary press coverage, reflect the lasting impact of the case on both families.

Why the case drew wider attention

Following the trial, detectives told the Liverpool Daily Post it was believed the Mullen brothers concocted their murder plan after watching the 1983 American crime drama Murder in Coweta County, starring Johnny Cash. The film was based on the true story of a wealthy landowner who murdered an ex-employee and burned the body in woodland, a sequence of actions echoed in the disposal of Gary Pettitt and Jean Larkin’s remains.

In December 1994, the Liverpool Daily Post reported that Frank Mullen sought permission to appeal against his murder conviction, though he remained in custody.

Background to the 1993 development

The disappearance of Gary Pettitt and Jean Larkin occurred against a backdrop of organised drugs activity in the north-west during the early 1990s, with ecstasy distribution networks expanding across Merseyside and surrounding areas. The couple’s small business, Calypso Blinds, placed them in contact with various local networks, and investigators concluded that Gary Pettitt’s involvement in drug dealing brought him into conflict with established dealers. The cross-border nature of the search—spanning Merseyside and Lancashire—reflected both the mobility of suspects and the challenges of coordinating missing persons inquiries before modern digital systems were widely adopted.

Prediction: how this development can affect audiences interested in cold cases and local history

For audiences following cold cases, local true crime and Liverpool-area history, renewed attention to the five-week search for the Aigburth couple may increase public awareness of how drugs-related disputes escalated into lethal violence in the 1990s. It may also prompt renewed scrutiny of historical investigations, encourage families of missing persons to revisit old leads, and influence how local media frame long-unsolved disappearances that later become murder cases. For researchers and journalists, the documented trial details and family statements provide a structured template for reporting similar cases with accurate attribution and neutral tone.