The friendships forged as women navigate parenthood can last lifetimes.
asserted
women → forge → lifetimes
As Rachel Roussel remembers her particular circle of young mums, funny-yet-poignant moments in the TV show Motherland spring to mind.
asserted
moments → remember → mind
There were six ‘mum’ friends, all living a stone’s throw from each other in Southampton, muddling through, seven children between them, taking turns to host their infamous Halloween parties and bonfire nights.
asserted
all → be → parties
Joanne Sheen – Little Jo to everyone who knew her – was the smallest, yet the one with the most infectious laugh.
asserted
who → know → laugh
I remember being at a festival and making her stand against the height chart at the fairground rides,’ Rachel laughs.
asserted
Rachel → remember → rides
Her friendship with Joanne, a mother to three daughters, spanned 15 years.
asserted
friendship → span → years
She last saw her seven years ago when they were hurtling into those mid-life years.
asserted
they → see → years
In fact, their lives had gone in very different directions – Jo’s in one that worried Rachel.
asserted
that → go → Rachel
‘By that point I could go for weeks, months, without seeing her, then I’d bump into her in the street.
uncertain
I → go → street
It happened a few times in that last year.
asserted
It → happen → year
Once, I just saw her coming before she saw me and I put my arms out and when she ran into them, I physically lifted her up and spun her around.
asserted
I → see → her
Joanne Sheen disappeared in February 2020, sparking a huge manhunt
Rachel Roussel (right) with Joanne... they had known each other for 15 years
‘
asserted
they → disappear → years
We must have looked so odd.
asserted
We → look → ?
I remember there was a telegraph pole and I kind of wrapped us around it and said “I’m keeping you here.
asserted
I → remember → you
I’m not letting you go”.
asserted
you → let → ?
A few months later, another similar chance meeting was to prove their final goodbye.
asserted
meeting → prove → goodbye
In late 2019, her friend – who had been gradually slipping out of Rachel’s life; perhaps out of her own life too – simply ‘disappeared off the planet’.
asserted
who → slip → planet
She was officially reported missing in February 2020, sparking a huge police investigation.
asserted
She → report → investigation
For nearly seven agonising years Rachel lived in limbo.
asserted
Rachel → live → limbo
Although police had made clear they were dealing with a murder investigation, she simultaneously grieved for her friend while hoping that one day she would hear that laugh across the street.
asserted
she → make → street
Last month, that hope died, when human remains were found in an area of scrubland in west London, about 65 miles from Southampton.
asserted
remains → die → Southampton
Forensic analysis would confirm that they belonged to Jo.
asserted
they → confirm → Jo
Wildfires in the area had destroyed vegetation, leading to the grim discovery.
asserted
Wildfires → destroy → discovery
The news, even though not unexpected, still hit Rachel ‘like a thunderbolt’.
asserted
news → hit → thunderbolt
‘I’d come into the house with bags of shopping and had been aware that I’d missed some calls.
asserted
I → come → calls
It was my husband who told me,’ Rachel remembers.
asserted
Rachel → tell → me
‘He said “they’ve found Jo”.
asserted
they → say → Jo
That night I remember not being able to sleep.
asserted
I → remember → ?
‘I always thought that if they found her at least there would be relief for her family – because her poor girls were going through hell with the not knowing.
asserted
girls → think → knowing
‘But that night, all I could do was picture Jo lying there, all that time, on her own, just waiting to be found.
uncertain
Jo → do → own
‘I’d thought about her every single day.
asserted
I → think → her
Her family, friends, we’d all driven around endlessly, looking for her, asking, “Where are you, Jo?”’
asserted
you → drive → her
Police would establish that the last sighting of her had been on December 5, 2019, travelling from Fareham to Southampton, with a friend.
Rachel (left) and Jo at one of their infamous Halloween parties...
asserted
sighting → establish → parties
their last time together was a chance meeting in late 2019, although Jo had been slowly slipping out of Rachel's life
The pair first met in Southampton in 2003 when Rachel (right) was a new mum
Rachel says that what followed – with Jo an official Missing Person – plunged her friends into a surreal existence.
asserted
Jo → slip → existence
‘You see these things on Netflix, but to live them is something else.’
asserted
live → see → them
The hunt for answers about what had happened was vast.
asserted
what → happen → answers
The police investigation comprised 4,000 lines of enquiry; police took more than 300 statements.
asserted
police → comprise → statements
The family pasted thousands of leaflets, each one bearing Jo’s face.
asserted
one → paste → face
They cooperated with police in a public appeal in the spring of 2020, releasing balloons the following autumn to keep up public interest in the mystery, and pleading for anyone with information to speak up.
asserted
anyone → cooperate → information
In 2022, after Jo’s handbag and a pair of trainers had been found under a pier at Southampton’s Mayflower Park, a reward of £20,000 was offered for information.
asserted
reward → find → information
…and 69 more, not listed.
The Aporia
