The man was not known to the authorities in Pakistan and his fingerprints did not match any on record in Pakistan, the UK or other countries. No evidence linking him to missing persons cases was found.
![Wimberry Stones - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Wimberry_Stones_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2345.jpg)
At 9:04 am on 11 December the unidentified man travelled by
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
train from
Ealing Broadway station
Ealing Broadway is a major single-level interchange station in Ealing in London, England. It is in the London Borough of Ealing, West London, and is served by the London Underground and also National Rail on the Great Western Main Line. On the ...
to
Euston station
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city railw ...
in London and then to
Manchester Piccadilly
Manchester Piccadilly is the principal railway station in Manchester, England. Opened as Store Street in 1842, it was renamed Manchester London Road in 1847 and became Manchester Piccadilly in 1960. Located to the south-east of Manchester city ...
.
He walked to the moor on the afternoon of 11 December, from
Greenfield, where he made enquiries at the Clarence pub about walking to Wimberry Stones. He was seen alive shortly after sunset (3:59 pm), by two
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales and in Scotland. It was founded in 1889. It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment throug ...
staff, near the site at which his body was found the following day.
Wimberry Stones is a rock feature known locally as "Indian's Head" overlooking the reservoir. It was the site of a
fatal aeroplane crash in 1949. Investigating detectives surmised the man may have been Stephen Evans, a survivor of the crash, but it was discounted after the BBC worked out, based on the 1949 report and the police statement, that he worked at the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.
The inst ...
and contacted him. He then contacted
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
to confirm he was still alive.
Identification and following investigation
In January 2017 the body was identified as 67-year-old David Lytton, who had flown into
Heathrow Airport
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...
from
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...
in Pakistan on 10 December 2015. He was identified from photographs from a passenger list and images from
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
in London.
Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England.
, Greater Manchester Police employed 6,866 police officers, 3,524 memb ...
confirmed his identity using
DNA matching, characterising him as "a bit of a loner" who "liked his own company".
On 31 January 2017 ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' reported that Lytton had lived in
Streatham
Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth.
Streatham was in Surrey ...
, south London, from the 1980s, until he moved to Pakistan in 2006. Former neighbours said he was a
croupier
A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.
Origin of the word
Originally a "croupier" meant ...
who had once worked as a train driver for
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
and after being made redundant from the casino had taken in lodgers, one of whom was of Pakistani appearance.
[Tomlinson, Hugh and Simpson, John: "Saddleworth Moor's mystery man died as quietly as he lived", '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'', 31 January 2017, p 21 The article reproduced personal information from Lytton's passport, showing a London birthplace and a birth date of 21 April 1948. The passport was issued on 8 September 2006 and would expire on 8 September 2016. The article reported that Lytton had arrived in Lahore on 6 October 2006, leaving almost six months later for
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. He returned to Lahore after four days, on 31 March 2007. The following November he left again, but there was no record of his returning.
[
Further details emerged in articles in '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' during February 2017. On 4 February, it was reported that Lytton's long-term girlfriend, also from Streatham, had helped him through bouts of depression, he had a brother, and that he had changed his surname following a family feud. (His change of name explained previous reports that no one named David Lytton had been born in London on 21 April 1948.) On 9 February ''The Guardian'' gave his former name as David Lautenberg and revealed that he had family living in England, including a brother living in North London. His parents were also identified as Sylvia and Hyman Lautenberg. Sylvia Lautenberg's family was of Jewish descent, had emigrated from Poland to England in about 1901, and had lived in or near East London. The family changed their name to Lawton in 1969.
In March 2017 the BBC reported additional details, many of them taken from interviews with Lytton's former girlfriend Maureen Toogood and various sources in the London area as well as Pakistan. According to the BBC, Lytton and Toogood met in 1968 when Lytton worked as a croupier in Mayfair
Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
. He had recently left Leeds University where he had studied psychology and sociology but did not graduate. He held different jobs later on and his last employment in London was as a train driver for London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
. Lytton and Toogood became a couple and conceived a child but Toogood had a miscarriage which Lytton did not take well. They separated at some point and Toogood got married but they stayed in touch and Toogood visited Lytton on a regular basis and helped around the house. According to her, Lytton was interested in religions and owned several copies of the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
. In 2006 he sold his house. He did not tell Toogood but mentioned to neighbours that he could not afford the mortgage anymore. When he had suddenly left Toogood suspected he had gone to the United States but he had in fact relocated to Hassan Town, a neighborhood in Lahore, Pakistan. There he led a secluded life but was in regular contact with neighbors whom he told he had converted to Islam in 1996, a statement police did not confirm. When he returned to London on 10 December 2015 he was received by a friend at the airport and who told the police Lytton planned to spend some time travelling around.
At the coroner's inquest on 14 March 2017 police reported that Lytton had repeated visa problems while living in Pakistan. His visa expired and he attempted to leave the country with a manipulated visa and got caught which resulted in him getting blacklisted. He eventually obtained a new visa that was about to expire in late 2015 when he was travelling to London, meaning it was his last chance to leave legally without having to reapply. Lytton's brother Jeremy Lawton reported he hadn't spoken to his brother for more than ten years but believed he was living in the United States because he had received several letters from him that had been posted in the U.S. Lytton's long-time friend Salim Aktar told that they had travelled to Pakistan together three times. He was the friend who Lytton had asked to pick him up at the airport upon his return.
Several witnesses have described Lytton as living a minimalist lifestyle and as a loner who enjoyed living alone and keeping to himself. Jeremy Lawton described that his brother meticulously "compartmentalised" his life in a way that his friends and family would not interact. Salim Aktar, Lytton's close friend for more than 30 years, did not know of Maureen Toogood's existence.
In 2020 it was speculated that Lytton's interest in the area of Oldham was due to poster advertising in London's public transportation which he must have often seen for years while working as a train driver.
Maureen Toogood was recovering from a stroke at the time of Lytton's identification and died in 2020.
See also
*List of solved missing person cases
Lists of solved missing person cases include:
* List of solved missing person cases: pre-2000
* List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
See also
* List of kidnappings
* List of murder convictions without a body
* List of people who dis ...
BBC Sounds Podcast Episode 7: Solved. 'Body on the Moor'
Released on Radio 4 15 March 2017.
Footnotes
External links
William Atkins, 2016, ''The Guardian'', "The mystery of Saddleworth Moor: who was 'Neil Dovestone'?" (14 May)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lytton, David
1948 births
2010s missing person cases
2015 deaths
2015 in England
Deaths in England
Formerly missing people
Missing person cases in England
Strychnine poisoning
Suicides by poison
Suicides in England