It was an ordinary evening in a family home in Shropshire when a mother’s worst nightmare unfolded.

Dorothy Whittle went into her daughter Lesley’s bedroom to discover a disturbing ransom note left on her bed – triggering days of anguish and distress.

In 1975 Staffordshire was gripped by terror from a man called Donald Nielson, who subsequently became known as the Black Panther. Neilson was originally a builder from Bradford before he murdered four people.

The community remains haunted by the horrific murders five decades later. The abduction of Lesley Whittle continues to resonate with the residents of Highley, Shropshire, to this day.

Lesley’s mother went to wake her daughter on January 14 and discovered an empty bed. On the bed were three ransom notes along with a warning not to involve police in her sitting room, reports the Mirror.

The Whittle family were well known in the area and Lesley was a member of the local community.

Horrifyingly, her body was discovered in a drainage shaft before Neilson was handed four life sentences for four murders.

Andy Wright, who was a Shropshire Star reporter at the time said, “People were absolutely astounded. They just couldn’t comprehend what had gone on.”

Researcher Dave Waterhouse told the BBC it is important to remember the case. He said: “Many people have actually said ‘let it lie, the past, move on’.

“Anybody born pre-1970 will have memories of what happened here in little old Kidsgrove. Tributes keep coming year in year out….it’s part of our local history and the impact it had is unquestionable.”

Waterhouse characterised Neilson as “very much a loner”. His mother passed away when he was aged 10.

He added: “He had very few friends. He went into the military, spent a couple of years there, which he loved. He was not successful in anything that he did except for burglaries – 400 burglaries and he never got caught.

“But he’d have every job from a taxi driver, from a joiner, from salesmen – and failed at every one.”

He suggested many people believed Lesley’s mother was the intended target, rather than her daughter. He explained: “The Whittles had got a coach company – 70 coaches, based over in Shropshire at Highley and everybody in the area knew the family.

“When the father died, Lesley became known as the heiress and people knew her as that.”

Multiple mistakes happened before Nielson’s capture. Waterhouse said: “The first night they had to abort – there was error after error.

“The BBC released on the 20:00 GMT news on the radio that it was going to be dropped off at the Swan Centre in Kidderminster and it never happened.

“They decided to go again the next night and it was going to be a drop at Dudley Zoo but the security guard caught Neilson on the premises and that security guard was shot.

“Then that evening the rules changed. Tape recordings were sent to the Whittle family by Neilson saying the drop’s got to be tonight at Kidsgrove.”

Sylvia Dymond, who was a schoolgirl when Lesley was killed, was horrified when police discovered the teenager’s body in the Kidsgrove woodland.

She shared with the BBC: “This is where as children we’d come down and play through the summer.

“We practically lived down here. It’s horrific when you think about it, because she must have been terrified.”

The ransom drop did not occur as planned because Neilson spotted a romantic couple and became alarmed.

Waterhouse explained: “He thought he’d been betrayed. Evidence suggests he came from where he was waiting and he aborted.

“But before he aborted he came back to Lesley and threw her off the shaft.”

Neilson was eventually arrested after being seen acting suspiciously outside a post office near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

In July 1976, he was imprisoned for Lesley’s murder and the killings of three sub-postmasters during armed robberies in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Accrington, Lancashire and Langley in the West Midlands.

Throughout the police investigation and trial, Neilson maintained his innocence. He passed away in prison in 2011.