Ann Widdecombe was found dead at her home in Haytor on Thursday morning, with serious injuries that prompted a murder investigation. The former Conservative MP, 78, had failed to appear for a scheduled television interview the day before, raising concerns among colleagues.
Missing Television Appearance
Ms Widdecombe was due to be a guest on the Matt Allwright show on Channel 5 at 1pm on Wednesday via video call. She had spoken to a researcher that day to set up the interview, and they exchanged messages just after 12pm. Her last message was received at 12:19pm. At 12:48pm, the researcher messaged again asking her to join the Zoom link, but Ms Widdecombe did not reply. Subsequent voice calls and messages went unanswered.
The show's research team raised concerns because this was out of character for Ms Widdecombe, a regular on the programme. They contacted her agent on Wednesday and Thursday to follow up.
Concerns and Discovery
A source told The Sun: “It was very strange that Ann wasn’t on. Nobody could understand it. She was usually very keen to be on and she is popular with viewers. There was some fear that she’d had a medical incident, or maybe needed someone to check on her, but nobody thought she might be dead. The mood when everyone found out was very sad.”
Channel 5 presenter Dan Walker confirmed that Ms Widdecombe was due to appear on 5 Daytime on Wednesday afternoon but stopped responding to messages. He added: "The team contacted her agent to ask them to check in on her. This information has been passed to police as it’s part of the investigation."
Police Investigation
At around 11:40am on Thursday, Ms Widdecombe was found dead at her home in Haytor with serious injuries. A 26-year-old man arrested on Friday 10 July on suspicion of murder has since been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation.
Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said: “Detectives continue to carry out numerous enquiries as part of the ongoing investigation and we remain committed to establishing the full circumstances surrounding the incident. I would appeal to anyone who may have information about this incident, however insignificant it may seem, to come forward and speak with us.”
Information, images or footage can be submitted via the Major Incident Public Portal, or via the Devon and Cornwall police website, quoting reference 50260179119 and Operation Hunlen.
