Son of missing woman makes emotional plea to Suffolk Strangler
Kurtis Pratt, a 30-year-old civil servant, has broken his silence to urge convicted serial killer Steve Wright to reveal the truth about his mother's disappearance. Kellie Pratt vanished 26 years ago, and her body has never been found. Kurtis, who grew up in foster care after his mum went missing, is now the same age she was when she disappeared.
A childhood overshadowed by loss
Kurtis described growing up "scared of the world" after his mother vanished in 2000. He entered the care system at just four or five years old and remained there until he was 21. "I have no memory of my mum really apart from what my dad told me and a few photos," he revealed. "In the picture she has a gentle face and long bushy curly hair."
The bright civil servant, who now lives in Newcastle, told how he only began to properly understand what had happened to his mother when he was a teenager. "I really didn't know for a long time because social services didn't tell me much at all," he explained. "I started doing my own research but spelt her name with a y and not an ie, so nothing came up for a long time. That goes to show how little I knew my mum."
Direct appeal to a convicted killer
Kurtis is now making a direct appeal to Steve Wright, who is serving a whole life tariff for the murders of five women in Ipswich in 2006. Wright recently admitted to killing 17-year-old Victoria Hall in 1999 - the first murder he has ever confessed to despite being imprisoned for multiple killings.
"I want to reach out to Steve Wright directly and ask that if Steve himself wanted to rectify - even a little bit of damage he caused to his victims - it would be really important," Kurtis said. "I think now is the time to come forward to give the victims' families and friends the peace they deserve."
He posed the question he most wants answered: "Do you know where my mum's body is?" adding that Wright's gruesome secrets must be "eating him alive."
The disappearance that changed a family
Kellie Pratt was last seen outside the Rose Inn public house in Norwich at 11:30pm on June 11th, 2000. The 28-year-old had moved from Newcastle to Norwich two years earlier to be closer to her mother. Tragically, she had developed a heroin habit and turned to sex work following a prison sentence for shoplifting.
Just weeks before she vanished, Kellie had written to her ex-husband Michael begging to see their two sons during the school summer holidays. He had agreed, but she disappeared before the planned reunion could take place.
Kellie was wearing a black mini skirt, black T-shirt and light blue coat when she was last seen. She received a call on her Nokia 6100 phone at 11:30pm, telling friends she was with 'a punter.' Neither she nor her mobile phone have ever been found.
Possible connections to other cases
Police have previously investigated links between Kellie's disappearance and several other unsolved cases involving sex workers in the Norwich area:
- Natalie Pearman, 16, who died of asphyxia in Norwich in 1992
- Amanda Duncan, 26, from Ipswich who went missing in 1993
- Michelle Bettles, 22, who was strangled in Norwich in 2002
Steve Wright is believed to have known the area intimately, having run a pub in the heart of Norwich's red light district with his ex-wife. His former spouse, Diane Cole, said he would often vanish leaving her to look after the establishment.
Seeking closure after decades of uncertainty
Kurtis revealed that not even the police had ever been in touch with him about his mother's case until recently. "You are the very first person to ever speak to me about this case, about my mum, about anything," he told reporters.
He believes that knowing what happened to his mother would help him move forward. "It would have such a huge positive impact on me," he said. "I'd be able to move forward with that information. To know exactly what happened to my mum."
Tragically, Kellie's mother passed away without ever learning what happened to her daughter. "Even though she's not here any more, knowing what happened to her would bring a lot of peace to us all," Kurtis added.
The determined son concluded with a powerful message: "It's not just that we want it, we need it and we deserve it and I think who is he to keep that from us after all this time. All he can do now is cooperate to the best of his ability and try and get some kind of good karma out of this by letting us all know what's happened and who the victims are, where they are."
