Episode 1

In June 1997, eight-year-old Jamie Lavis vanished on his way home in Manchester. As his family launched a desperate search, a local bus driver — Darren Vickers — led appeals, comforted Jamie's mother, and walked the same streets where, days earlier, he had killed the boy. Forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes profiles a manipulative predator who weaponises trust and proximity to deflect suspicion: a killer who didn't run, but moved closer. This is the story of how the search for Jamie was, quietly, being steered by the man who already knew where he was. Listen now to The Profiler, with Kerry Daynes.

Key psychological themes

This episode explores: manipulative predators • hiding in plain sight • staged grief and performative empathy • the psychology of proximity to an investigation • how communities mis-read familiarity as safety

Contributors featured in this episode

• Kerry Daynes — Forensic psychologist, presenter, and author of Dark Side of the Mind and What Lies Buried.

• Roy Rainford — former detective who led the investigation into Jamie’s disappearance.

• Asif Hussain – former police family liaison officer who first raised suspicions about Vickers.

• Jeff Anderson, former Head of News, ITV Granada

• David Ward — former Guardian journalist who interviewed Vickers before he became the prime suspect.

What you'll learn in this episode

• Why some predators move toward an investigation rather than away from it — and what that behaviour reveals about their psychology

• How Vickerss used everyday roles — bus driver, neighbour, helper — to gain access to the Lavis family

• What Kerry Daynes calls "performative empathy": the way manipulative offenders mimic grief to disarm suspicion

• Why the small town familiarity that should have protected Jamie became the cover that allowed his killer to operate

• How the case changed the way Greater Manchester Police thought about volunteers in missing-child investigations

Relevant links and further reading

• Kerry Daynes — Dark Side of the Mind (Endeavour, 2019)

• Kerry Daynes — What Lies Buried (Endeavour, 2021)

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/326657.stm — BBC News archive: contemporary coverage of the Jamie Lavis case

• https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/disturbing-picture-shows-how-evil-15392826 — Manchester Evening News: "The Disturbing Picture Which Shoes How An Evil Child Killer Wormed His way Into His Victim’s Family”

• Support for families of missing or murdered children — Missing People (UK) • Victim Support

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Visit theprofiler.co.uk

For an exclusive filmed interview with Kerry Daynes on the cases behind the series — including untold detail on the Jamie Lavis investigation — visit theprofiler.co.uk. Subscribe to the newsletter for case updates, parole-hearing alerts, and early access to new episodes.

Credits

• Presented by Kerry Daynes

• Produced by Shearwater Media

• Executive producers: Jeff Anderson and Steve Anderson

• Edited by Rob Warner

Content note

This episode contains descriptions of the abduction and murder of a child. Listener discretion is strongly advised. If you have been affected by the issues raised, support is available from the NSPCC (0808 800 5000) and Victim Support (0808 168 9111).

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