A mother has slammed police after her son’s body lay undiscovered in the back of her van parked in the yard of a BP garage for six days.
Don Shepherd was last seen parking his van at BP on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, east London, early on February 11.
Described by his mother as a “happy tree hugger” and who lived in his van, Sheppherd, 50, was seen on film trying to buy a bottle of water, but was told by an assistant that the store was still closed.
He was then seen on CCTV walking back to his van. It was the last time he was seen alive. Inside the vehicle he died due to a heart attack.
Her body remained in the back of the vehicle for six days until it was finally discovered by police on February 17, after her desperate mother called repeatedly to report her missing.
Don Shepherd’s body remained in the back of the vehicle for six days until it was finally discovered by police.
Donald and Liz Shepherd from Sussex hold a photograph of their son Don, who was found dead in their van.
The garage staff also called the police asking them to remove the vehicle that had been parked in the yard all this time, not knowing that there was a body inside.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, his mother Liz, 67, from Hastings, East Sussex, criticized the officers and said: “I reported him missing on February 10.”
“I called the police and told them I couldn’t locate him. He lived in his truck and moved around a lot, but we were in regular contact. He hadn’t called me in a few days and I was worried about him.
“I told them he had last used his bank card at a petrol station in Finsbury Park. I gave them the registration number of his van and asked them to look at the CCTV in the garage.
But they have had no hope. We told them we knew she had been in the garage.
“Now I know that the poor man at the gas station had also called them several times, saying there was a man here in a van who hadn’t been out for five days. But the police never came.
Eventually, the Met responded to garage staff and dispatched officers. There, she saw officers desperately trying to open the van’s doors before paramedics swarmed the scene. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they identified the man and told his family.
An autopsy confirmed that Sheppherd had died of a heart attack.
The Met said: “At 2.12pm on Saturday 17 February, the body of a man was discovered in a vehicle at a petrol garage on Cambridge Heath Road E2.
‘The agents believe they know who the deceased is and are working to inform the next of kin. At this time, the death is not considered suspicious.’
His mother describes Don as a “happy tree hugger.”
Liz and her husband are now arranging his funeral and say they have made a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police about the standards of their investigation.
Don Shepherd was last seen parking his van at BP on Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, East London (pictured), early on February 11.
Liz says her son was diabetic and not living well before his death.
The London Ambulance Service spokesperson added: “We were called at 2.15pm on February 17 to reports of an incident on Cambridge Heath Road, E1.
‘We sent an ambulance and a paramedic in a rapid response car to the scene. Sadly, one person was pronounced dead at the scene.’
Liz, a retired British Airways stewardess, says her son was diabetic and was not living well before his death.
She continued: ‘He stopped on Sunday afternoon and asked for some water. He was amazed, they said. He then he got into his van.
“The coroner has released his body and the van is still there. It’s a shame, a man died there.
‘I knew he was gone, as I could see the last time he used his cards. The police came to tell us, but they already knew she was gone. I told them ‘why is this happening only six days after I reported her missing?’
Liz and her husband are now arranging his funeral and say they have made a formal complaint to the Metropolitan Police about the standards of their investigation.
—That van stayed there for six days. It could have been filled with anything. Even the explosives, the police should have come. “This is no way to treat people, it’s beyond sad, it’s heartbreaking for us,” he added.