THE brother of a schoolgirl murdered by serial killer Fred West is angry that her grave is still unmarked, 10 years after her remains were found under floorboards in the House of Horrors.
Carol Ann Cooper disappeared after waving her boyfriend goodbye at a Worcester city centre bus stop in November 1973.
Her remains were found 21 years later beneath 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester - one of 12 women and children butchered by West and his wife Rosemary.
But a family estrangement means the 15-year-old girl's grave, at Worcester's Astwood Cemetery, remains anonymous.
The only item marking her resting place are a few plastic flowers, whose fading petals have been scattered by a lawnmower.
The Christopher Whitehead schoolgirl was living at a children's home in Bilford Road, Worcester, when she vanished.
Her mother had died when she was very young and half-brother Nigel was born after her father, Colin Cooper, remarried. But, when the marriage failed, he moved out of the area.
Her friends and family only discovered that he had secretly cremated her remains when they made a claim to police for them.
"My father Colin has the rights to the grave and we don't even know where he lives. I haven't seen him for years," said half-brother Nigel, of Ronkswood, who was two when his sister vanished.
"It's sad and I'm still angry at her not having a gravestone, but there's nothing we can do.
"If there was a gravestone, I'd be able to lay flowers on it and think about her, but I can't. I can't even rely on memories because I was only a baby. It's almost like she didn't exist."
City cemeteries manager Ian Yates said the council had to respect the rights of the plot owner, but he would be happy to discuss ways forward with Nigel.
"We need the permission of the person who owns the grave to carry out any alterations."
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