Libby Squire (1 January 1998 – 1 February 2019) was a university student who disappeared following a night out with friends on 31 January 2019 in Kingston upon Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. In the days following her disappearance, Humberside Police and Squire's parents made a public appeal for information. Police undertook door-to-door enquiries in areas of Hull near to where Squire lived and had last been seen, as well as searching bins, drains and the partially frozen Beverley and Barmston Drain for evidence.
On 6 February, just under a week after Squire disappeared, 24-year-old Pawel Relowicz was arrested on suspicion of her abduction after CCTV showed his silver Vauxhall Astra in the area when she went missing. On 10 February, he was charged with five unrelated sexual and burglary offences, committed between December 2017 and January 2019, but was not at the time charged with any offences in relation to the disappearance of Squire.
On 20 March, approximately seven weeks after Squire disappeared, a woman's body was discovered by fishermen in the Humber Estuary, close to Grimsby docks. The following day, this was identified as being the body of Squire. It was not possible for police to determine the cause of death, as a result of how long the body had been in the water.
On 24 October, Relowicz was charged with the rape and murder of Squire. On 11 February 2021, he was convicted of both offences and sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 27 years before he will be eligible for parole.
Background and disappearance
Liberty Anna Squire was born on 1 January 1998, and grew up in West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. At the time of her death, she was studying philosophy at the University of Hull.
On the evening of 31 January 2019, 21-year-old Squire was on a night out with friends. At around 11:20 pm she was refused entry to The Welly, a music venue and nightclub in central Hull, because door staff thought she was too intoxicated. As a result, her friends called a taxi to take her to her home in Wellesley Avenue, which dropped her off at around 11:30 pm. However, she did not enter her house. Ten minutes later she was seen about half a mile away on Beverley Road. A series of witnesses saw Squire "crying and sobbing" in the street. Some attempted to assist her, but found she was incoherent and aggressive and they eventually gave up.
Investigation
The search for Libby Squire was the largest missing person search in the history of Humberside Police. In the days following Squire's disappearance, her parents, Russell and Lisa Squire, made a public appeal for information and for her return. More than 100 police officers and staff searched for evidence, while specialist teams searched nearby bodies of water, including the River Hull and the Beverley and Barmston Drain.
24-year-old Pawel Relowicz was arrested on 6 February on suspicion of Squire's abduction. As part of the investigation, he was charged with voyeurism, outraging public decency and burglary offences. These charges related to a string of sexually motivated offences committed between June 2017 and December 2018, and were unrelated to Squire. They included Relowicz masturbating in public, spying on women in their homes and stealing sex toys, underwear and cash during burglaries. On 13 August, he pleaded guilty to nine offences at Sheffield Crown Court and on 16 August was sentenced to eight and a half years' imprisonment.
Squire's body was found by a fisherman in the Humber Estuary almost two months after she went missing, on 20 March. The body was so severely decomposed that it was not possible to determine the cause of death. On 24 October, while still imprisoned for the previous sexual and burglary offences, Relowicz was charged with the rape and murder of Squire.
Trial
On 31 October, Pawel Relowicz appeared before Kingston upon Hull Crown Court charged with rape and murder. He was remanded in custody, and a provisional trial date was set for June 2020 at Sheffield Crown Court.