Ron Ellis, 32, was last seen in the early hours of May 3, 2010, after a bank holiday weekend spent celebrating his birthday in Manchester's Gay Village. The drag performer, known as Fanny Allcock, boarded a train at Piccadilly Station between 2pm and 3pm on Friday April 30, arriving in Northwich around an hour later.
He then made his way back to Sauna Sauna on Winnington Lane, the business he managed with his partner. Over the weekend, Ron is believed to have worked a shift there before leaving the building in the early hours of Monday, May 3. He has never been seen again.
Reported two months later
Ron was not reported missing until July, two months after he disappeared. His friend Karen tried to call him to wish him a happy birthday but got no answer. She contacted friends and his partner, who said Ron "had just got up in the middle of the night and had gone".
By the time police were involved, vital opportunities were lost. Detective Sergeant Paul Davis, of Cheshire Constabulary's Major Investigation Team, said: "Back in 2010 you didn't have the digital CCTV that you have now. By the time Ron was reported missing to us we were two months behind. There were a lot of missed opportunities there. Back then CCTV cameras would have been wiped by the time he was reported missing."
Phone call 'could hold key'
Davis said a "heated one-way" phone conversation Ron had during that weekend could be significant. "We have been told just before he went missing he had a one way conversation on his mobile phone at the sauna. But we don't know who that was with. We have never traced that person. It is unusual he has had this type of conversation late in the evening and then gone missing," he explained.
Ron's mobile phone was recovered at the sauna in 2010. Police think he completed his shift over the bank holiday and went missing in the early hours of Monday.
Davis also noted that Ron worked in Manchester and Blackpool from an early age. "There are going to be people in the Manchester area who may not have known his real name, only his stage name," he said.
Police believe Ron has died
Cheshire Constabulary has concluded that Ron has died, though the circumstances remain a mystery. Davis said there was no sign Ron intended to harm himself. "He was running a really successful business with his partner. It did well and still does," he said.
Following Ron's disappearance, his bank account was untouched, and no records of him appeared at hospitals or GP surgeries. The sauna has since changed hands twice. Both of Ron's parents have died, as have the carers who supported his brother Andrew. Detective Constable Laura Gilbert said: "We still have people grieving for Ron, who are still here and want to know what has happened to Ron."
Devotion to brother
Ron was devoted to Andrew, his brother, who had cerebral palsy and relied on a wheelchair. Andrew died in 2019, but Ron did not attend his funeral, a fact Davis described as significant. "Andrew is significant in terms of proof of life. Ron was really close to him. Yet then Ron went missing there was no contact. Andrew died in 2019 and Ron did not attend the funeral. That is significant to us as to whether Ron is alive or not."
Andrew had cerebral palsy and relied on a wheelchair for mobility, residing in the care of his carer. Ron would regularly be in touch with him, by phone and would visit him. All that stopped.
Appeal for information
No arrests have been made in the investigation. Davis said he was certain someone knows what happened: "What I am certain of is that someone knows exactly what has happened. I am 100% convinced on that. There is a few key people that have not come forward to speak to us."
He appealed to the LGBTQ+ community, saying: "We need to emphasise to the LGBTQ community that we can offer the security that they will be dealt with in confidence and with integrity and anonymity if it has to be. They need to trust us."
'Hardest investigation' in 30 years
Davis, who has been a detective since 1999, called the case the hardest he had encountered. "For the public to assume we have this wrong. The public should assume we have nothing and we need their help. This is the hardest investigation I have ever took on and I have 30 years of policing experience. I have been a detective since 1999 and I have never had a case with so few leads. It is just bizarre. He has gone missing without a trace."
Ron did not hold a driving licence and was known to disappear for several days at a time. Davis appealed to taxi drivers, former employees and customers of the sauna to come forward. "I believe Ron may have divulged things to them. But there is a reluctance to come forward. I can't believe with Ron being the kind of manager he was in that sauna, having hundreds of customers, that someone does not know something."
"We will speak to people without judgement. My goal is to get closure on this case," he added.
Friend: 'Out of character'
Karen, Ron's lifelong friend, raised the alarm in July 2010. She first met Ron as a teenager in Bromley Cross, Bolton, where he grew up and attended Turton High School. "He was very funny, he was a bit of joker. We would go shopping in Bolton, and he would go up to the counter in Superdrug and say 'can I have 50p?' He would walk down the street singing. He wanted to be famous. He wanted to be on Big Brother. We used to do karaoke together," she said.
Karen said Ron was generous and thoughtful, and his ultimate aim was to one day become his brother's carer. After Ron vanished, Karen and Andrew filed a missing person report with Bolton police. "It was definitely out of character for Ron to have done that. He would not have done that to Andrew, he was very fond of his brother," she said. Karen recalled that the last time she saw Andrew he was heartbroken, having lost his carer, his parents and his brother.
She added: "You don't just get up in the middle of the night and disappear. I hope someone comes forward because if something has been done to him he deserves justice."
Anyone with information is urged to contact Cheshire Constabulary.
