She left on a clear October morning and never came back.
Edith Crane was a 34-year-old schoolteacher from Dulverton who walked regularly on Exmoor. On the morning of 14 October 1977, she told her husband she was going up to Larkbarrow — a route she had walked dozens of times. She took her red walking coat, her map, and a flask of tea.
She was reported missing that evening. Her car was found at the lay-by on the Exford road. A search party set out the following morning. After three days of searching, the only thing found was her red coat, folded neatly and draped over a fence post at the edge of the Larkbarrow ruins, six miles from her car.
No note. No footprints. No explanation. No Edith.
The Devon and Somerset Police investigation ran until March 1978. With no body and no evidence of foul play, the case was reclassified as a missing person and formally closed in 1982. The official position is that Edith Crane “likely suffered a medical episode and was lost on the moor.”
Not everyone accepts this. The Larkbarrow Files exists because people who knew Edith, knew the moor, and knew the details of the case believe the official account leaves too much unexplained.
The facts, and the gaps.
- Edith left home between 8:00–8:30 am on 14 October 1977
- Her car (grey Hillman Avenger) was found at the Exford road lay-by
- Her red coat was found at Larkbarrow, folded, on a fence post
- The coat was dry despite heavy overnight rain
- She had walked the route at least 40 times by her husband’s account
- No medical history of episodes or conditions
- Police searched 18 square miles over 11 days
- Case closed March 1982: no body, no evidence of foul play
- Why was the coat folded? Weather does not remove and fold a coat
- Three witnesses saw a blue Land Rover near the lay-by that morning — never identified
- A page is missing from the police evidence log (pp. 34–35)
- Edith made an uncharacteristic £40 cash withdrawal two days prior
- Her walking map was left in the car, not with her
- Her flask has never been found despite extensive searches
- A colleague reported she “seemed distracted” the week before
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