Overview
- West Midlands Police issued a fresh public appeal in October 2025 as their long‑term investigations team revisits the decades‑old case.
- Investigators say Bell left a Skye campsite after an argument, appeared confused when seeking help at a police station, and was put on buses toward Portree and Glasgow.
- He contacted his parents from Dalwhinnie then from a Tyndrum phone box on May 14, 1983, saying he was heading for home before the final call cut off.
- Police have ruled out his travel companion as a suspect and report no evidence of a crime, while keeping open possibilities including a medical emergency, suicide, third‑party involvement, or that he left the country.
- Officers are appealing for information from anyone who knew or worked with Bell in Birmingham or saw him in the Highlands, noting the investigation remains open with no confirmed trace after Tyndrum.