True Crime with Kimbyr - Part 1: 8 Minutes To Murder: The Predator Who Practiced in Plain Sight | Libby Squire

Episode Date: March 15, 2026

In this chilling episode of True Crime with Kimbyr, the mysterious disappearance of University of Hull student Libby Squire unfolds through a haunting timeline of CCTV sightings and key locations across East Yorkshire. What began as an ordinary winter night out soon revealed a disturbing pattern of prowling, voyeurism, and break-ins on nearby student streets. On True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha carefully examines the investigation, the warning signs that went unnoticed, and the courtroom battle that followed—breaking down UK law, “bad character evidence,” and what a life sentence truly means in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A 21-year-old university student gets out of a taxi just a few minutes from her home. And in the space of an ordinary walk, she disappears into the night. What makes this case hit differently is that she wasn't missing. Someone had found her. A man lurking in the shadows. But it wasn't by chance. He wasn't improvising. He wasn't spiraling.

He had been practicing night after night in the same streets. right near the college testing how close you could get to a woman without being stopped. And I'm going to be honest. This is one of those cases that makes your stomach drop. Because the timeline isn't measured in years. It's measured in minutes. And the warning signs were already there. Hi, everyone.

Welcome back to my channel. And if you've never been here before, I am Kimberlea. It's nice to finally meet you. Okay, this wasn't intentional, but this is another case in my case. evil mind series. I just did one last week. Now, these stories are focused more on psychology, patterns, warning signs behind serious crimes, and of course the real world consequences that they leave behind. And I am still perfecting this style. I gave up on it a couple years ago, but it is back, and I'm telling you, just bear with me, it's going to get better and better.

It should feel different than my deadly deep dives, and that is on purpose. These cases are different in the way that I present the facts. They're more about, leaving you with a sense that you can't make sense of the senseless. And these cases are just pure evil. So let's start on Thursday the 31st of January in 2019. I'm taking you to the city of Kingston on whole in East Yorkshire, England. I hope I'm going to be pronouncing these cities right, but bear with me. I'm trying my best. Now it looked like any other student city at the end of a week. It was the wintertime. So of course the air was cold and damp. and there was a heavy fog lingering across the city.

Here and there, students were sitting on benches, talking to friends, looking at their phones, and the weekend was still a day away. But that wasn't going to stop students from making plans to fight off the cold with music, cheap drinks, and socializing. Amongst those seeking a good time that night and some relief from the winter night was 21-year-old Liberty Squire, who was known as Libby to those closest to her. Libby was a university of whole student who was living in the city while studying philosophy. And like thousands of students across the United Kingdom, she was preparing for a night out

with friends, and I'm sure you can imagine these kind of nights. Most of us can relate, even if you've never even been to college. Maybe you just go out with you and your friends or your siblings. But for Libby and many of us, these nights included a few drinks, some friendly banter and maybe a bit dancing. It had been the same familiar rhythm as countless other nights in this college town, the kind of thing that begins casually and ends quietly and everyone finds their way home at the end of the night, except Libby never found her way home. In the early hours of Friday the 1st of February, Libby vanished, only a short distance from her house that she shared with other students on Wellesley Avenue. What Libby did not know was that her movements that night,

would put her directly in the path of a monster who was moving through these same streets with a very different purpose. He had no urgency, no destination in his movements, and he was prepared to wait for exactly the right opportunity to present itself. Most cases we dive into have a long runway, and what I mean by that is it might be years of escalation or one explosive moment. Maybe it's a perpetrator who spends months planning an attack or a person who just suddenly makes a simple, terrible decision. But this story is different. The escalation is already in motion years before Libby ever steps outside into the night in 2019. And when their paths cross, what happens next unfold so fast that by the time anyone realizes that she's in danger, she's already dead.

Investigators would later uncover that this purpose. had been moving through these streets in this neighborhood committing offenses that at the time were not taken seriously, and I know what you're thinking. Only later did those earlier incidents start to look like a pattern. It was connecting the dots backwards, as they say, when everything finally came together. You may ask the same question that I hear all the time. How many times? How many times does a woman have to report something to be taken seriously? And in this case, how many times does a woman have to report a very creepy stranger at her window before the system treats it like a warning instead of just a nuisance? It was the rapid escalation in a short period

of time that makes this case so unsettling. There wasn't a lead-up over many years, and there was no single dramatic moment that anyone nearby could recognize as dangerous. The timeline that night is measured in minutes, not hours or days, and those hours, days, and even months came, after Libby disappeared. And even then, the full picture of exactly what happened will never be completely clear. And we can say that in a lot of cases because we can't know what a killer was really thinking. That stays with them. And this case stays with people who hear it because it forces a hard question about how risks are recognized and how warning signs are treated before something escalates. The story actually starts in a lot of cases towards the beginning point.

where Libby was refused entry into a club while she was out with her friends. And while I agree, that moment is very important, and we will get there. I believe it's unhelpful as a starting point, because it frames everything that happened next as a consequence of a moral failure on Libby's part. In other words, it's simply victim-blaming. And knowing this case well in my perspective, the real starting point in the story is much earlier before Libby even enters the picture when she's not even in frame at all, when the pattern of this monster was just beginning.

It was in the dark, one window at a time. So let me take you there. Years before Libby disappeared. There was another young woman in Hull, and we're going to call her Laura for privacy reasons. She was in her own home, and it was one of those ordinary nights where nothing feels like a true crime story, until it suddenly does, and that should scare all of us.

Laura and her boyfriend were sharing a private, intimate moment together, and we are adults here. I think you know what I mean when I say that and when I'm going to say things in a certain way in this video, because unfortunately I can't use the words I want. I want to be more direct, but this platform censors those type of videos, so I have to censor my words.

But Laura and her boyfriend were being intimate together when all of a sudden, she noticed something that didn't look right. Something caught her eye as her curtains on her window that was slightly open were blowing in the wind. The street light illuminated the space outside and she could see a man with his hands and face poking through her curtains. A stranger watching them through an open window. There he was in the shadows just lingering, not speaking, not knocking, just standing there long enough for her to register that something was happening. It was the sudden, sickening realization that a boundary that she didn't even know she was defending had already been crossed.

And when her boyfriend looked up at the man, he retreated. Now later, Laura would describe feeling violated. And even years after that, she said it was still something that she thinks about all the time and it weighs heavily on her mind. And because humiliation is part of the point for these creeps, the incident didn't even end at that window. because afterwards Laura's friend found a used condom and a pair of women's underwear left draped on Laura's door handle like it was a calling card and that just disgust me. But poor Laura was made to feel like she was blowing things out of proportion. She said, I don't even think my boyfriend took it very seriously.

My housemates didn't take it seriously. I think they thought it was funny, but I didn't find it funny at all. She said that everyone else had played it down, but she knew something was very wrong. She said, I always had a feeling that this was going to be somebody who wasn't going to do it just once. And she was haunted by this experience. She had her locks changed. She had a camera installed. But she's quoted saying, it didn't help her from feeling absolutely petrified. Those were her words. Especially when she was home all alone. And it got so hard for her to feel safe in her own home. she had to sleep with garden shears in her bed just in case that man came back.

She wouldn't even leave her bed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's almost like she was a prisoner in her own home. And when this incident initially occurred, she actually did report it to the police in case you were wondering, but it was filed away as weird or gross. And it was the kind of thing that people would tell her to just laugh off once her adrenaline faded. and she wasn't freaked out anymore. But I'm going to give you insight

that the police didn't have at the time. This wasn't a one-off incident. Laura was right. Between June 2017 and January 2019, this monster was lurking. And there were a string of women observed, intruded upon, and left without lingering sense

that their home wasn't fully theirs anymore. So hold on to that image of the open window the drapes drawn and the breeze flowing inside. Because we're going to come back to it. And when we do, it's going to explain why what happened to Libby wasn't out of nowhere, and it definitely was not her fault. Libby was born Liberty Anna Squire to her parents Russell and Lisa Squire,

and she came into this world on New Year's Day, Thursday the 1st of January, in 1998, in West Wickham, Buckinghamshire. Libby was a doading big sister to her younger brother and two younger sisters. And when her first sibling, Beth, was born, she literally turned to her mom at age four. And she said, Mommy, when is this baby going away? And Lisa laughed and told her she was there forever. And little Libby rolled her eyes at her. And at eight years old, her second little sister, Maisie came along. And then two years after that, her brother Joe. And she was like a second mom to him. She adored him so much. And the way her parents spoke about her, paints an early portrait that feels instantly familiar and tender. They called her their kind, thoughtful, beautiful girl and said that Libby was a really happy child, the kind of girl who stayed deeply connected to home. She was described as extremely close to her family and siblings

and held tightly in that everyday ordinary love that shapes you without you even noticing it's happening. And as Libby got older, she carried that closeness with her, not just with her family, but anyone she felt she wanted to be close to. At school, she built a really good group of friends that stayed connected with her throughout her entire life. And of course, they did the typical girly things, sleepovers, played sports together, and her mom described her as organized, hardworking, and committed to her studies. Her academic interests leaned towards language and the humanities,

English language, English literature, and Latin. She was drawn to stories, meaning, and words that fit just right. Libby loved to read. She loved to go to the gym and travel and listen to music and go to concerts. Those small joys that make her life feel a lot bigger, louder, and more alive. And West Wickham Hill was remembered as part of her favorite places to be, the kind of spot you return to when you want that fresh air in your lungs and room in your own thoughts. At age 16, students in England take what's called the GCSE exams across multiple subjects,

and they're graded from A as the highest mark down to lower passing grades. and Libby achieved really strong results. She earned five A grades, two A's, and a C, which placed her among high-achieving students. And A-levels are the next stage of education taken before university. And by the time Libby was due to sit for her A-levels, she was struggling with her mental health. This made studying really difficult, but Libby was determined to succeed. Despite her mental health challenges, she relied on her family and friends, and she was doing better. But unfortunately, she completed those exams with two Ds and a U, which meant there was an ungraded portion where the required pass standard was not met.

But Libby was determined to go to university. But first, she wanted to take a gap year to put some distance between her school years and her college years. And that makes sense. That could release some of her anxiety. She was doing better mentally. She traveled to Paris. She was excited about the future ahead of her. And when she returned to the UK, she then,

chose whole university after visiting the city and just feeling drawn to it. By the time she started classes, her family said she had worked hard on her mental health and was in a really positive place. She would even talk about a possible future career in journalism, but her mom really didn't want her to leave. She wanted her to stay close by. They were really close. It was really hard for her to let Libby go. But she was the kind of daughter who kept in touch almost minute by minute. Whatever was going on in her life, whether it was big or small, she would text her mom. She was always in communication, whether it was a minor ailment she was going through or whatever she bought that day, just random thoughts she sent them to her mom. She would even send goodnight texts when she was

finally in bed. But while she was away at college, she made a number of close friends. Her main group consisted of Ryan, Nathan, and her best friend Amelia, who was also studying philosophy. She She described Libby as patient, kind, but also joked that she was a bitch in the best way possible. She was a lot of fun. There were clips of Libby being silly before they headed out on town, basically throwing herself down the stairs and laughing. She had these big blue eyes that were so piercing they could almost see right through you. She had dark brown hair and a personality that would enter the room before she even did.

In her first year of school, she socialized a lot, going out almost every night of the week. but the thing is, she never missed a class. Second year, she and Amelia moved in together with two other friends. And because I live in the United States, I had no idea what hole was like. But it was described as very walkable, friendly, and safe. I figured a little more insight might give you some context in case you're not familiar like I was. It's a residential area right around the college. We're talking apartments, homes, and even little restaurants lining the streets near the university. It's very walkable. Police are patrolling the area at night. And Lisa, she didn't worry about Libby at all. She calls her daughter savvy, wise, and feisty, someone who could look out for herself.

But her mom did say she was a little too trusting sometimes. Despite the improvements in her mental health and her life, Libby wasn't a perfect human being. I mean, who is? And her vice of choice was alcohol. But let's not make a judgment call here because you never truly understand someone's reasons, but I can tell you, for most college students, it was for fun. And that is what Libby and her friends were doing. They were drinking and they were having a good time. However, it's true that university life does have a problematic drinking culture. But Libby seemed to thrive. Friends who met her there at school described her as a bright young woman who took pride in everything that she did. She was funny, friendly, but private. She preferred

to see people in person rather than chat online, and she was always up for a night out with friends having fun. In Hall, Libby lived in a shared house on Wellesley Avenue, which is part of the city with a lot of student housing. By her second year, after coming back from winter break, she was ready to reunite with her friends. She was doing all of the normal things that a woman her age and background would do, and it couldn't help but think about the Idaho case. Kaylee and Maddie and Zana and Ethan, college students living their best lives. having fun, being free, before they graduated and started their careers. They had no idea.

A psycho killer was lurking in their quiet college town. They didn't know that he would come into their home and destroy all of that. In the same way, Leiby didn't know that she was sharing a neighborhood with a monster. I call him the butcher in the window. His real name is Pavel Ralevich. This is the man behind those open. windows I told you about. The moments that seemed small, but they really weren't. Pavel was born on Saturday the 25th of June in 1994 in northern Poland. He was only four years older than Libby,

and he came to the United Kingdom in 2015 at the age of 21. The same age Libby was when her life ended. Pavel was looking for work and to build a life in the UK, and by the time Libby crossed his path, he looked ordinary on paper, a butcher working up in Malton, a husband, a father of two young children, someone who could pass as background noise in a busy city. And that's what makes him dangerous. Because people who knew him described him as a religious family man and a devoted father while he was spending his nights doing the exact opposite of what a family man is supposed to mean, while being a husband and father should mean something protective. If anything, Pavel used his family as the perfect camouflage

to make sure everyone only saw the normal life he wanted them to see, rather than letting them in on the twisted double life he was living. Now, this is important. There is not much reliable public information about his childhood or early psychology beyond the basics, and I'm not here to invent a backstory that makes his later choices feel inevitable, but what we can track clearly

is the documented behavioral trajectory. Two years after relocated to the UK from June 2017 onward, police started to get reports about a series of offenses that would later be recognized as part of a growing pattern. These incidents took place mainly in student areas of whole

and happened late at night or in the early hours of the morning when the streets were quiet and most people were inside their homes sleeping. These were not spontaneous drunken acts. They involved planning, late-night movements and clear positioning. Pavel would walk or drive through the residential streets after dark, targeting properties where curtains were partially open and the lights were still on inside.

He would stand outside the windows, watching women inside of their homes. These women were getting changed, taking showers, or asleep in their beds. And in multiple cases reported to the police. the women would see a man outside of their window touching himself in the darkness while peering inside. That's how I need to put it, but he was pleasuring himself. And these incidents frequently occurred in the Beverly Road and Newland Avenue area, which are streets lined with shared student housing. So remember that location, because it's really important in Libby's story.

In addition to voyeurism, there were several burglaries that were categorized as being sexually motivated, because during these break-ins, the intruder, who remember, he doesn't have a name back then, but he didn't steal electronics or valuables. Instead, he targeted intimate personal items like underwear that were inside women's drawers or even in their dirty laundry piles. Use condoms would be left inside clothes baskets and adult toys were even taken from bedside drawers. The burglaries often occurred in the early hours of the morning while the occupant was still. still sleeping inside, and that is very brazen. We talked about it in one other case I did recently.

There was one incident reported to the police that happened in the Beverly Road area in late 2018. A woman reported a man attempting to actually open her door after previously seeing him outside her window. Other victims described noticing footprints in their garden outside right under their windows or disturbed property the morning after they felt like they were being watched. And that must have felt terrifying. And if that has ever happened to you, I am so sorry. And then on Sunday the 20th of January, residents reported a man exposing himself late at night near student houses. This was just 11 days before Libby went missing.

And despite many of these incidents and burglaries being reported to police, no one was arrested. No one was charged with any crime. Most of them weren't even fully investigated at all. And unfortunately, these incidents escalated over time, watching women through windows, breaking into their homes for intimate trophy, so to speak, and committing inappropriate acts in public, it's an inability to control the urge to self-gratify. And once this pattern starts, it doesn't stay minor. The perpetrator grew more bold because he thought he couldn't be caught. So when we talk about where the origin shows up in this case, it isn't a dramatic childhood story. It's the repeated rehearsals, the same street, the same targets, the same entitlement over and over until one night.

The target is a real living person sitting alone in the dark. Libby Squire. If the cases had been followed up on, then maybe the connection would have been made that all these crimes were connected. And if that happened, then there would be a pattern that would emerge, showing that the behavior was not just persistent, the stakes were getting higher. The perpetrator had gone from peeping to exposing himself to breaking into occupied homes. Each step increased the level of intrusion and risk. Each step required more confidence. And honestly, more disregard for the women whose privacy he was invading. If those reports had been connected sooner, it's possible that investigators might have identified a vehicle,

a reoccurring description of a person, or they may have been able to narrow in on one individual across multiple incidents rather than treating them as isolated. If they had done that, they might have figured out that Pavel, the butcher, the husband and father of two, the monster was living a conventional life during the day while engaging in evil deeds by night. And you may wonder, if he was married, why? If he was married, did his wife have any idea this was happening? If he was married with kids, were they ever in danger? There's no public evidence that his wife had any knowledge of his double life. And what's clear is that his family was a cover. And that's the part that makes predators like this so hard to spot and what keeps me up at night.

Why I'm explaining all this up front is because I want you to understand the psychology before we go into what happened to Libby and the aftermath. There is something called the escalation pathway. Own it all. Pay off your home. Travel for life. Drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the World premiere of the Monopoly, Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino and San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th. Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava,

celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. In Evil Minds cases, I like to dive a little deeper into why and have a teaching moment if possible so that we can be armed with knowledge,

not just for this video, but because it can save a life and maybe even your own life. When people hear words like voyeurism or indecent exposure, they sometimes consider it like something happens when someone gets really drunk or they even think it's funny.

But it is a serious offense, and it's a concept that's worth understanding what I talked about, the escalation pathway. In plain language, it's that an offender's starts with low contact, low risk boundary violations, watching, then exposing, then lurking. And if he gets away with it, he learns, I can do this. I can get close. I can enter someone else's orbit and leave without any consequences. This isn't just curiosity. It's about proving that they can cross a physical boundary, and you'll never know about it until it's over. So keep that in mind.

Because these types of stories are not about what someone on the outside might see as a bad decision on the victim's part? No. It's about a predator who had already trained himself to recognize a vulnerable moment and act. Please keep that in mind. So now back to this case, in January 2019, Pavel, the monster, was already prowling the same student neighborhood late at night that Libby lived in. And by then, these streets were familiar to him. He knew the layout of the houses. He had been so familiar with the rhythm and the timing of when people came and went local students from clubs and pubs. It was in that same small geographic pocket of hole. Just days after another exposure incident, the Libby would come home from that night out. It was on January 31st that

Libby went out with her main group of friends, Ryan, Nathan, and Amelia, and they met up at another friend's house to drink and hang out. Later they stepped out to go dancing at the wellie club. It's a two-level building that has any music on one level and more of an emo vibe on the other. It's a place that they frequently went and it's a very well-known student bar in the area. At 1120 p.m., CCTV shows the group arriving and Libby can be seen in a black dress and a black jacket wearing a pair of van sneakers. There's snow on the ground. It's cold out. And it may seem like an unusual choice to be dressed like that, but they're walking just a short distance and they're getting back inside the establishment. So you're not standing in the cold for very long,

or you're not planning to. But there were also many people that were wearing winter jackets and hoodies. Libby was seen stumbling a bit, but this wasn't unusual for her when she drank, and her friends would later say that she was not in any way unusually drunk. But tipsy would have been a good definition according to them, and they knew her. However, while having to stand in line in the cold, her demeanor started to change. She was wrapping her arms tightly around her. She was shaking and swaying, and it seemed like the cold was getting to her because she had been drinking. We're talking about 34 degrees Fahrenheit or 1 degree Celsius. January is the coldest months in the city, and there's also a wind chill that can make it feel even colder. Remember I briefly explained to you

in the beginning that she was refused entry to the club? And that's the usual starting point for this story? Well, it's because the door staff believed that she already had enough to drink. And there are very strict laws in the UK under the Licensing Act of 2003. It makes it a criminal offense to allow someone who appears to be drunk to enter a pub in the event that they consume even more alcohol. So door staff has a duty of care. They're actually required as part of their job to refuse entry and even get the police involved if the person won't comply. So of course, Libby doesn't want to deal with that and neither do her friends. And the staff member is not going to take any chances, because if they don't follow protocol,

then they could be liable for what happens and there could be penalties. The bar can actually lose their liquor license as well. And even though there's no strict legal definition of what drunk means, there are signs that employees have to take into consideration. Things like stumbling, staggering around, and slurred speech are enough. So as Libby's friends are providing their IDs, one of the doormen asked Libby to stand aside, to step out of the way. And you can see her in the CCTV footage.

She's just waiting. And while she's there, they're observing her behavior. And it was decided she was not allowed inside. And I think all of us can understand that perspective of the bar staff. It's important to keep people safe. But here's the part that does more damage than good. Libby's friends were allowed inside. Only she was singled out.

So they decided to do what they had done on numerous occasions when one of them wasn't allowed into a club because it did happen. They called them a cab. So with Libby, they did the same so that she could go home. But she was alone. And you may be thinking again, why? Why didn't one of them remain with her? Was drinking and partying more important? And it can make me angry. But they did what they thought was the next best thing. To them, she didn't appear to be heavily intoxicated. She was talking to them, even though, you know, it was very cold, especially with what she was wearing, so she was shaking. But they had done this a number of times. It was standard for them. This wasn't a far drive either. It was a few blocks away. They gave the driver her exact address on Wellesley Avenue, gave him money for her fare,

helped her get buckled into her seat, closed the door, and they returned to the club. Now, it's true, no one went with her, but she did make it to where the driver was supposed to bring her. It was only minutes later. Around 11, 29 p.m., the Libby was dropped off just a few steps from her front door. That should have been the end of it. A short walk inside, a warm room, maybe a morning headache, but Libby never made it inside. It's not a taxi or an Uber driver's responsibility to make sure a drunk passenger gets in their home safely. And by six minutes after midnight, Amelia was texting Libby to ask if she had gotten home yet. since they hadn't heard from her.

Now there's something you need to know about Libby. She is not one to bring a purse out with her. She doesn't like holding anything, not even her keys or her phone. She had lost her phone in the past, so she had made a choice to leave it back at home. If you've ever been in college, someone else is bound to have a phone,

so you would not be worried if you didn't. And she had roommates, so they could let her in and unlock the door for her. Her phone was in her room that night. But the first thing she would have done when she got home was get on it and text one of her friends to let them know she arrived. Since it had been about an hour since she left and she wasn't answering the text, they thought maybe it was because she already fell asleep.

But it was really worrisome to Amelia, so she texted their other roommate to ask if they heard Libby enter the front door. And she said, no, she hadn't. It was around 12.30 in the morning. It should not have taken her that long to get back. So that was concerning. But as many do, they assumed maybe she walked to get something to eat, maybe she met up with another friend, and the list of explanations goes on and on. However, once her roommates got home,

and they realized that she hadn't arrived, and it had been nearly two hours, and she wasn't answering her phone. That wasn't like her. When they went into a room, they were even more concerned because they found her phone. That explained why she wasn't returning their calls or texts, but it didn't explain where she was

and why she had never come through that door that night. They knew that she didn't have her phone out that night in case it got lost. But now she was lost. And it's really easy to judge her friends. There's a lot of questions we can contemplate. How involved does someone need to be with another adult? Should it be required to accompany someone intoxicated?

If you're asking me personally, the answer is simply yes. The rule is too and too out, meaning if you and a friend go somewhere, both of you leave no matter what, no matter if one is still sober and wants to party, but not everyone has the knowledge from reading about or watching cases like this. Many students believe they're invincible, that their neighborhoods are safe, but they're not living on an isolated island. Anyone can venture into their safe space. It was at this point that her roommates decided to call the police, and here's a small portion

of that call now. Oh, so my friend, she put her in touch with her to get home, and then now she's gone to sit at the site. What's your friend's name? Niddy. After that, Amelia called Lisa's mom at 109 a.m. Now, she didn't answer because she was working a night shift, but when she saw who it was,

she quickly called Amelia back to ask if everything was okay. And that's when she was told that her daughter was missing. and Lisa said that she went numb. And it was in that moment she said she couldn't feel her daughter's presence like she usually did. And if you're a mom, you know what she means. She was like Libby, where are you? Lisa started doing everything she could to find her. She was calling the hospitals in the area. She was calling her other friends, even the taxi company. And six hours go by. It's now daylight. Officer Gathorpe arrived at the Humberside police station to start his day, and I know in the UK it's Humber, but the first thing on the docket was following up on a missing person's report that was on

his desk. He had her name, Liberty Squire, her description, 5'7-Caucasian slim with blue eyes and dark brown hair. She's got a scar on one of her elbows and everyone calls her Libby Pie. His belief, because he had been doing this a long time, and they would constantly get adults going missing in this area, and they would turn up. He thought she might have passed out somewhere. Maybe she needed help, since it was so cold outside, but he thought, once the businesses start opening up in that morning, he's going to get a call. Someone's going to find her. In the meanwhile, officers did begin to go and contact her friends and family to find out, did anyone hear from her, but they did not. And this is completely routine to begin a search this way. It's not unusual.

for a person that's out drinking to not let their friends know where they are. But not turning up sometime later that morning by 8 a.m., that was completely out of character for Libby, and her friends were worried. And they were worried because she was drunk when she got into that taxi. They were thinking maybe she got lost when she got out of it, or that she got into some kind of trouble on that short walk home. Officer Paul Walker from the major crimes unit had more officers going door to door in this area, but most residents said, we were asleep, and we didn't hear anything. We didn't encounter anything unusual. All of her roommates and friends that she was out with that night were interviewed. And it was a very stressful situation,

as you can probably imagine, because they felt a lot of guilt. It was starting to sink in at this point that this was really happening. There was some friends of hers that thought, you know what, this is an exaggeration. She's going to, to turn up. She's probably just sleeping at a friend's house. So they would just go about their day, attending class as usual. But Libby never showed up for any of her classes. And when the university informed Lisa, at that moment she knew this was very serious. She called Libby's grandparents. She told them, hurry, we need to leave. We need to get to hole now. She said she was sick to her stomach. And time was ticking by. It was 12 hours that had

already gone by to be exact. And on that drive, everyone was very emotional. The whole family went. All Libby's siblings, her parents and grandparents. And at the same time, police were still scouring the streets. The standard procedure was to go 50 meters from where a person was last seen. They had contact with the taxi company by now, and the driver, his name is Steve, was thoroughly interviewed. He was an older man in his mid-50s, and he explained how Libby's friends asked him, to get her home safe. And he could tell she was drunk, but he had seen people in way worse conditions. She was also angry, according to him, that she wasn't allowed to be with her friends and that she had to go home. He said she was kind of cussing under her breath and he asked her, are you okay? And she said,

yes, I'm fine. He said he dropped her right in front of her house. So that is where the search started, street by street. And this was intense. They were looking in underground drains. They were combing through brush, they were doing full-on-line searches. Meanwhile, officers also started looking at CCTV footage from the area where Libby lived. They saw the cab driving onto her street, so they were able to at least confirm that part. It was only after piecing together snippets of CCTV footage from the most heavily surveilled cities in the UK, that investigators began to understand how the events of that night actually unfolded. minute by minute.

The lead digital media investigator James Grandage was in charge of scrubbing through all of that footage, and he started with the nightclub. I showed you this earlier. The Umbreside PD posted a tweet with Libby's picture, and it read, Can you help find Libby Squire 21, last scene getting into a taxi outside Wellie Club and Hull? She's 5'7 inches tall with shoulder-length brown hair and was wearing a black long-sleeved top, leather jacket and black denim skirt with lace. Now friends from back home saw these posts,

and they created posts of their own, including her friend from childhood Rachel Christie. She pleaded with the public to please help her find her oldest and best friend and to please bring her home. And though a lot of these tweets and social media posts brought in a lot of tips, I'm sure you know social media can be more of a curse than a blessing. Because some people would call in saying, oh, I just saw her, and they were in an entirely different country. That didn't help. But finally, back at the station, CCTV footage shows that within seconds of being dropped off by that taxi, Libby was unsteady on her feet.

So she did what probably felt right to her in that moment. She took a seat on the sidewalk, right near a bench on Beverly Road, just for a short period of time. Do you remember that location from earlier? This is where Pavel's hunting ground was. and Libby had walked straight into it, like a fly into a spider's web. During this time, the CCTV footage showed Libby exhibiting signs of intoxication. And remember, police had already had comments from her friends, but seeing it was more proof of her condition.

She was rocking and unsteady. And even sitting down, and given how cold it was that night, officers also believe that she might have been experiencing hypothermia. And if you catch yourself thinking, why didn't she just, and then you want to fill in the blank? Why didn't she just go straight inside her house? Why didn't she do something different? I'm going to ask you to pause.

That question assumes that she was making clear rational choices in a moment where her body and her brain were not fully cooperating. The more useful question is, why was a man like Pavel still out? Rawling after all of those reports. Around 11.40 p.m., a person in a car, stopped briefly and they checked on Libby. That driver later told police they were also a university student and they lived on the same block. And when they stopped, they asked Libby if she needed help

and she said she was okay. But again, she's not acting rational and it's not a pass-or-by's responsibility to do more so they left. Between approximately 11.35 p.m. and 1140 p.m., Libby was seen on CCTV moving slowly along Beverly Road. And this is right around the corner, only about three blocks from her house. And she's kind of dancing on the sidewalk and then making her way across the street to the other side, running right between passing cars. Then she begins running down the street. Later, Amelia explained one reason that she believed Libby did this, because anytime she felt like an inconvenience, even though she wasn't, she would get very emotional and she would go on a walk to let off some steam. It's just on this particular night. She was also intoxicated.

and she wasn't alone in the sense that somebody was watching her. Then on the CCTV, it shows her once again sitting down on the sidewalk, and later, she could be seen laying on the ground. Clearly, she wasn't feeling well. And if you have never had too much to drink and bowed down to the porcelain god, I applaud you. But it happens. And when she stood up, she struggled to get to her feet.

and she appeared to even be disoriented. At around 1145, the CCTV captured Libby sitting on another bench on Beverly Road, near the entrance to a road that leads to a sports field close to Wellesie Avenue where she lived.

She remained there for several minutes, and during that period of time, multiple vehicles passed through that area, and one of those vehicles was a silver car, which was captured on footage driving along Beverly Road at approximately 1146 p.m.

Now, that same car was seen passing Libby's location at least four times in the following minutes, four, back and forth. At around 1148 p.m. to 1150 p.m., Libby was seen leaving the bench and walking unsteadily along Beverly Road towards the direction of her home. Anyone watching this could think, wait. She's going to make it after all. We know she didn't. Investigators knew that she didn't. And after that sighting, she briefly disappeared from one camera but reappeared on another. But the final clear CCTV footage of Libby that was recorded at approximately 1153 p.m. showed her near the same bench near the Oak Road area that leads to the entrance of the playing

fields. Shortly after this, she was no longer visible on any footage the investigators could find at that time. Watching that was like watching someone. one's final moments. And it's sad because you are helpless. All you can do is imagine what happened next. Even Steve, the cab driver, said that when he heard everything that was happening, he wished that he could have done something different that night. But there was just no way to know that Libby would vanish. By Sunday the 3rd of February, Uberside Police said they had significant concerns for Libby's safety. Detective Superintendent Matt Hutchinson told the media, Libby, is a vulnerable young woman and we are extremely concerned for her welfare. Now, that word vulnerable

was used repeatedly in press briefings about Libby's disappearance. Officers made it very clear. They believe she had been at risk in the moments before she vanished and she was. The search escalated quickly with more than a hundred officers now involved. Special search teams combed through open land, gardens, and alleyways. Divers searched part of the river hole and nearby waterways. despite the freezing winter conditions. They also searched the partially frozen Beverly and Bardson drains for evidence. Drones were flying overhead

along with police helicopters that were deployed for air searches, and there were sniffer dogs that were brought in to look at this whole area. There were officers with shan saws cutting down areas of tall grass to see if Libby had passed out and was deep beneath it or worse.

Officers checked trash bins and outbuildings and they even asked the residents to review private CCTV and dash cam footage from the night of Thursday the 31st of January all the way to the second of February. They wanted residents to check their sheds and any buildings on their property for any signs of the missing student, thinking maybe. Just maybe she sought out some shelter in the cold and was just stuck somewhere and in need of medical attention. Her friend Ryan couldn't wait around. He searched areas on his own, even once the police had already gone over and he didn't care

because maybe they missed something. The whole town was buzzing with intense search efforts. Reporters from various news stations had moved in as well. Even news stations from across the nation had picked up this story. And Libby's parents, Russell and Lisa finally made it to a hole. And they were also thrust into the spotlight. They made very emotional public pleas on TV. Her mom said, Libby, if you see this, please get in touch. We just want to know you're safe. Her father, added, we just want our beautiful daughter back. They described her as kind, thoughtful, and deeply loved. And they urged anyone who had seen her to please come forward. Imagine how that feels as a parent. We try so hard to protect our children, even our adult children. Because to us, they're always going to be our babies.

For days, Hull was covered in posters and digital signs, with Libby's picture even on trucks with big screens, with all of her information driving down local streets. I've never seen this related to a missing person, only ads in L.A. for like alcohol or food, and it's such a better use for it, in my opinion. Students shared her image online. Local businesses displayed missing persons flyers in their windows. And as the days passed without any word, friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers held vigils. Photos show them standing together in the city, holding candles, and trying to keep Libby's name out there and drawing attention to her disappearance.

Now, all of this prompted a young woman who was in the same area in the early morning hours of Friday, February 1st, to come forward. Her name's Beth. She was also a college student walking home after hanging out with friends at a nearby pub, and she saw Libby. She said she was crying. She asked her what was wrong, and Libby told her she couldn't find Wellesley Avenue. So Beth showed her where to go from their location. But right after Beth walked away, she saw Libby walking in the wrong direction, going back towards the pub. So she tried yelling out to her to tell her that's not right. But Libby must not have heard her

over the traffic because she never stopped. But Beth needed to get home as well. So she just kept going on her way. Now that bench, where Libby was last seen on CCTV, it was pivotal to this case. Reporters would stand in front of it, hoping someone would remember her when they walked by or they were driving past it, remember seeing her that night. It was part of the story of her disappearance. like this is where she was. Her mother said, someone had to have seen something. There had to have been a camera

that caught her next move. She didn't just vanish. But it really seemed like she had. The public was outraged because they felt the police were not doing enough. Doesn't that sound familiar? And everyone had a theory and opinion. They were all armchair detectives,

so to speak, in the comments on social media, thinking that they could do a better job than the authorities. And of course, there was a ton of victim blaming. And that's why I told you that this is not her fault. It was so hard for Libby's loved ones to read these nasty comments about Libby. Like she shouldn't have been drinking. She put this on herself. This should be a lesson to all women who are out there going out and partying too much and the list goes on. Her friends were pissed because this could have been any one of them. It didn't matter to them whether she was

drinking or not. But then, the public was also coming down on all of her friends, saying, who leaves their friend all alone to get home by themselves like that? And it got worse. Libby's guy friend, Ryan, he was being pinned as the perpetrator, and they hadn't even been evidence that a crime occurred, but they were saying he made her go missing. He should be arrested. You might ask why. Well, you know why. The online analysis of his every interview, every move, his body language, which these so-called experts in the comment sections would point out. Others latched on saying that they could spot all of his red flags. And any time he was asked about Libby, they said, look, he gets defensive.

Everyone already felt bad enough? They didn't want this extra scrutiny on them, but I understand why people pointed fingers at her friends. But soon, the focus would be off of all of them entirely. officers searched Libby's house. They looked through her bedroom. It was tidy. Nothing was out of place. And it really hurt me. It hurt my heart. Her mom left her a note just in case she came back. It read Libby, we're here looking for you. Call me, my darling. Love you. Love mommy. Libby's dad, Russell, said that his wife and daughter were so close, they were like one being. And Lisa tried to explain what it felt like.

to know that her daughter was missing. And she said it so well that I want to repeat it to you. She said, you know that feeling you get in your gut when you turn around for a second in a grocery store and you don't see your child? Your stomach drops. Imagine that feeling constantly. And it never goes away.

I have never heard anyone describe it like that, but you could tell that Lisa was such a loving person. There she was a parent. with so many questions, and yet she took the time to comfort all of Libby's friends, to hug each of them, and ask how they were doing. And that just goes to show you what can a person raise Libby and where she got her kindness. Lisa did not blame any of Libby's friends. She knew all of them, and she knew how much Libby cared about them.

By Monday the 4th of February 2019, which, ironically, was Libby's dad's birthday, Police confirmed the search had become the largest missing person investigation Homerside Police had ever undertaken. Officers said they were keeping an open mind, but admitted they were increasingly concerned that she had come to harm. Those were their exact words. I mean, most of us who follow true crime know the first 48 hours are the most crucial. They were trying to narrow down what streets they should pull more footage from,

and they determined that she had never made it to Wellesley, obviously. she never made it home. That was her street. And she didn't make it to Cunningham Road, I'm showing you on the map, because that was the main road, and they had a ton of footage from there, and they never saw her. So they focused on the last street, Hayworth. They were asking residents to please turn over any camera footage. And after six days had passed, and out of seemingly nowhere, police announced, on Wednesday the 6th of February, they had arrested the driver of a silver car that was seen repeatedly on the initial CCTV footage that I showed you from the night of Libby's disappearance. The driver's name is going to be familiar to you, but it wasn't to police. It was Pavel Relevich. He was arrested on suspicion of being responsible for Libby's abduction. I told you his car had passed her four times. That's not just passing through the small town. That is watching. That's praying. that's deciding on his next move.

And police move quickly to secure and search Pavel's silver astra, as well as his family home. And meanwhile, the media was heating up with headlines. There was one that said Libby Squire, police search home of Polish butcher, with Pavel's name and face plastered everywhere. Libby's loved one saw what the media was doing, dubbing him as the butcher.

But he was. It wasn't just for headlines. It was factual. but to them it sounded like the title of a horror movie.