Skeleton found in pub 'is missing landlady'

A skeleton discovered buried in a storeroom at a Welsh pub was yesterday thought to be the remains of a landlady who disappeared 27 years ago.

A skeleton discovered buried in a storeroom at a Welsh pub was yesterday thought to be the remains of a landlady who disappeared 27 years ago.

Barbara Maddocks, of the Aubrey Arms at Ystradgynlais, Powys, disappeared in October 1973 but despite a major police inquiry no trace of her was found. Mrs Maddocks, who had two children, was in her fifties when she went missing. Her husband, Bill, who died eight years ago,had said he knew nothing of her whereabouts.

The skeleton was found by builders who were converting the beer store into a pub extension and tests were being carried out to establish the cause of death. Yesterday Dyfed-Powys Police confirmed that human remains had been discovered in an outbuilding at the pub and officers were continuing to search the property.

Police investigating Mrs Maddock's disappearance had dug up a roundabout opposite the pub and part of a road underneath a bridge but found nothing to confirm local gossip that she had been murdered.

The Maddocks' son, Hywel, who took over the pub after his father died, was not available for comment yesterday.

Howard Evans, 75, who recalled Mrs Maddocks' disappearance, said that she was last seen walking towards her pub. "She had come to Wales from Australia and some people thought that she might have just packed her bags and gone home. But certainly there were a lot of people who thought differently... Barbara was a good-looking woman and very popular. It's awful to think that she might have been buried in the pub all this time," he said.

A small boy presented flowers to a police officer guarding the pub yesterday. His mother, who asked not to be named, said, "I remember Barbara from when I was a little girl. When she went missing... I remember the police stopping people and showing her photographs."

A Dyfed-Powys police spokesman confirmed that an investigation into Mrs Maddocks' disappearance had taken place in 1973 but said the remains found at the pub had not been identified.