A Body Revealed by Drought | Sunk in the Lake | Case Files: Dark Waters | Forensic Files

[ominous music] NARRATOR: In the South of France lies Lake Bancalié. [ominous music]
A picturesque reservoir some 60 miles Northeast of Toulouse. [ominous music] MIKE KELLETT: It's a very, very large expanse
of water in quite a remote location, up in the hills, miles from any habitation.
It's a very beautiful location. [ominous music] JOSEPH DE CONTI: It's very in the middle of nowhere.
It was nobody go-- in fact, only fishermen. [tense music] NARRATOR: But in 2001, this tranquil beauty spot
revealed a terrible secret. [tense music] IAN KENNEDY: There had been a notable drought for a very
long period that summer. The levels of the water in the lake had dropped by about 30 feet.
[tense music] - There is something working along here who sees the top of the car.
Somebody sees the top from this way, working on this way. And he calls the police.
NARRATOR: The discovery of a sunken car brought French military police, the gendarmes, to the lake.
They were immediately suspicious. JOSEPH DE CONTI: The only a reason to go with the car this way is to put the car in the lake.
[tense music] I don't see why you have to go this way if you don't want to hide a car.
There is no house around. Nobody can see the car when you come here. We send local police team, local gendarmerie team
to look which car is it. And we have the description of the red car. [tense music]
NARRATOR: The car was a rusted 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser. It had clearly been in the lake for some time.
But what had happened to the driver? [tense music] - We called the forensic to make
an investigation underwater, take the car off the water. NARRATOR: A specialist forensic dive team was brought
in to help with the recovery. This was now a potential crime scene. [water splashing]
GILL WILLIAMS: When the vehicle would have first gone into the water, it was quite deep.
And so you wouldn't have been able to see the vehicle. If the wind would have been blowing,
that would have carried the vehicle out a little bit more. It would have drifted, which would have entailed
a proper underwater search. In this case, however, the water levels had dropped, which it made the job of recovery a lot easier.
NARRATOR: But it wasn't without risk. [ominous music] GILL WILLIAMS: The diver would have
checked all around the vehicle, making sure not to go underneath it, not to get snagged.
You don't want the lifeline to get snagged underneath the wheel arches or anything like that.
And also, you don't want to be either downstream or downhill of the vehicle in case it moves.
JOSEPH DE CONTI: You have to make a forensic investigation underwater. Not very easy.
They do a good job, I think, because they make pictures. Everything we do normally out of the water,
they have to do this underwater. It's very hard. GILL WILLIAMS: They would have done a very slow, steady search
looking for any evidence that might have fallen out from the vehicle. They would then start checking the vehicle itself.
While searching the vehicle, you would check the doors and windows. [ominous music]
The driver's side window was open. And the driver, at the time, was able to lean in very carefully and check to see if there
was anything on the seats. And at this particular time, they discovered that there was a body.
[ominous music] IAN KENNEDY: She was laid across the back seat. [ominous music] A very good indication that she was either unconscious or dead,
and had been placed in the back seat before it was put into the water. [ominous music]
NARRATOR: License plate checks revealed the car's owner was 52-year-old mother of three,
Evelyn Lund, a British expat. She'd been living in France but was reported missing two years earlier.
[ominous music] - It was really traumatic in the time that she was missing. It was agonizing.
I can't even really put into words how it felt for us. So many different emotions, the constant anxiety.
Questioning, would she have gone away but then always coming back round to this, knowing
that she wouldn't have ever just gone off and left her family. I was very, very worried something terrible
would have happened to her. You just have to sit and wait and hope that the police will do a good job, and they'll find her
or she'll come home. [ominous music] NARRATOR: Detectives from her home County of Lancashire
got involved. - The gendarmes contacted us because they thought we'd be able to help.
They thought their enquiries to be made in Lancashire. And it was a lot easier for us to do those for them
and to see what we could do to assist. The gendarmes were keeping us updated as the car
was being recovered. [grim music] GILL WILLIAMS: They would be treating the search and
recovery of this as if it was a crime scene, just as it would have been on the surface.
So you're trying to log everything you can underwater, first of all, before the recovery
of the vehicle takes place. You don't want to move anything and lose what could potentially be an important piece
of information. NARRATOR: But no telltale markings could be seen on the body. IAN KENNEDY: It wasn't possible to draw perhaps
some of the forensic opportunities that would normally be available. Her body had become damaged from being in the water
for so long. [grim music] RICHARD SHEPHERD: There's usually quite extensive decomposition.
The skin will be peeling off. The underlying muscles will be beginning to decay significantly.
Superficial marks are likely to be lost because of the loss of skin. And so the whole process of decomposition
will be working externally by the effects of water and internally by the normal processes of decomposition.
NARRATOR: So a decision was made to keep the body in position as the car was carefully winched to safety.
- It took them a couple of days to organize how they were going to get the car out of the lake.
The French mounted a very detailed operation with divers to secure the vehicle pulled out the water
and then to see what was inside. But when it came out, the local paper had been tipped off.
They had a reporter on the other side with a cameraman. They didn't want the cameraman to see
it so they put a big tarpaulin over it and dragged it out. And having the press there didn't
help because it really encumbered them doing what they were doing. [ominous music]
NARRATOR: Despite the challenges, the body was sent for, a post-mortem. DNA testing revealed it was indeed
[ominous music] - For this family, they now have to go through a new transition, and
that is replacing that hope, that last bit of hope, with the reality of what has happened.
So now, I think they're in a new phase of dealing with the loss of someone they love very, very much
and was a very excellent mom. [ominous music] - I think my sister got a telephone call, probably
from the English police. And she called me and she said they found my mom. It was such a shock.
This unbelievable wave of emotion, of all the colors of the rainbow of emotion rushed through me in an instant.
The relief, the sadness, breaking down because you know that it's true. She is dead.
It was just traumatic because then you start to paint a picture of what has she gone through.
What has she gone through in her last moments of life or the last hours of her life?
But there was a huge relief in a very bizarre way, even though it was devastating.
They were only confirming what we'd already known deep down for a long time. NARRATOR: Police had to investigate
all possible scenarios. - Had it been a case where Evelyn had driven into the water deliberately?
Accidentally rolled in, and not been able to escape? Or had some misadventure come to her,
and had she been placed in the car and then the car pushed in? - We could hopefully start to get some real answers
on what had happened. [tense music] NARRATOR: In the South of France, detectives are investigating after Evelyn Lund's body and
car were found sunk in a French lake. [tense music] Their search for answers takes them
900 miles from where Evelyn was found to Darwen, Lancashire, in the UK, Evelyn's former family home.
They started by speaking to her daughter, Vicky. [tense music] - I would say we were just a normal regular family.
We were very outdoorsy. I think, at one point, we had five dogs, six cats, two goats, three ponies,
chickens, ducks, geese. My mom was-- she really, really liked animals. Lots of happy memories, yeah.
She devoted her life to her children, her grandchildren, and animals. NARRATOR: But unexpectedly, tragedy hit the family.
[tense music] - My dad was diagnosed with cancer. And sadly, he passed away when I was 13.
It was a big shock. My mom didn't cope with it well. He was the love of her life, and it hit her really hard.
NARRATOR: Evelyn inherited her husband's estate worth more than 1 million pounds.
VICKY TAYLOR: She was settled in that respect. And that's the only respect that she
was settled in, really. And I think that she was lonely. [tense music] - She was left looking after a farm, some animals,
and obviously really missed her husband. She was a very vulnerable woman and was missing the companion.
[tense music] NARRATOR: Within months, Evelyn met 39-year-old divorcee and tree surgeon, Robert Lund.
[tense music] VICKY TAYLOR: The neighbors knew Robert. Robert was, at the time, living in a caravan on their land.
And my mom decided to have a gathering at the house. And I just remember from the moment he stepped foot
through our door, he just made this beeline straight for my mother and didn't leave her alone all evening.
It was weird. And then from that day on, we couldn't get rid of him. NARRATOR: They started a relationship,
and Robert moved in. VICKY TAYLOR: Whatever he wanted, my mom would buy for him.
He decided he wanted to get into shooting, clay pigeon shooting. And my mom bought him a huge, great Clydesdale horse.
I guess Robert thought that that would come with some kind of status. He was very good at spending my mom's money.
- He was very interested, I think, in playing the lord of the manor. She was a wealthy widow.
He was somebody who really saw somebody who could financially help him. And that is a huge red flag, what we call love bombing.
And they shower you with attention. It's almost like, I think, the romantic equivalent
of a salesperson. I've got to put the pressure on you because if I give you too much time to think,
you're going to realize this isn't really a good deal. NARRATOR: Soon, Robert showed another side.
VICKY TAYLOR: The way he spoke to my mom, condescending, putting her down, bashing her confidence,
even saying nasty things about her appearance. For other people to hear, I heard him
on many occasions just trying to beat her down a bit really. He also could be super nice one minute
and then he would just flip. He had a very, very bad temper-- shouting and screaming.
It wasn't nice. [tense music] NARRATOR: The insults turned violent. [tense music]
IAN KENNEDY: There was a history of domestic violence in the relationship. Robert would portray that Evelyn
had been violent towards him when she was in drink. I'm not sure it was correct.
But certainly, there was a history of Robert having assaulted Evelyn. [tense music]
NARRATOR: Despite their difficulties, the couple announced they were tying the knot.
[tense music] - The night before the wedding, my mom was upset. And she said to me in private, I don't know if I'm
making the right decision. And I begged and pleaded her not to do it. She said she wasn't sure.
I told her I wasn't going to the wedding. I refused to go. I couldn't stand there and watch her marry him.
I was completely against it, but she still went through with it the next day. [ominous music]
All of a sudden, out of the blue, this idea comes to move to the South of France.
[ominous music] NARRATOR: The married couple bought a converted barn in the French hamlet of Rayssac in the remote region of Tarn.
- We believe it was him that put the idea in my mom's head. KEVIN BROWNE: To move to a very rural area of France,
he isolated Evelyn from her friends and family. Evelyn couldn't speak French so she
was immensely isolated, both geographically and socially. And that really begins to raise concern.
- The domestic violence literature tells us over and over again that isolation is one of the primary tactics of controlling
a victim in a domestic violence situation. Evelyn is going into the worst possible scenario.
NARRATOR: Evelyn did make some friends, though, including fellow expat, Marianne.
- There was always this feeling of tension with Robert between the two of them. She was very open and bright and jolly.
And he was very uptight and stern faced and miserable. He was always criticizing her about her looks.
I always remember one horrendous occasion when she wanted to go swimming. And he would only let her get in our swimming pool
if she was in the nude. And I just thought, how controlling of him. It was just so sad.
It was just a nasty piece of work. KEVIN BROWNE: Evelyn may have become blind to some of the coercive, controlling behavior
that he was exhibiting. Given how vulnerable she was, she'll probably be balancing the good times with the bad times.
I think she was an optimist. And so by moving to France, she hoped it would improve.
But at some times, there was domestic violence. MARIANNE RAMSEY: There were many times
when I said you've got to get out of this, have the guts to move away. - She'd be on the phone and you upset, crying.
My sisters and all of her friends would openly say you have to leave him. He's violent.
- But the trouble was she just felt controlled by him. And of course, when you're in that kind of relationship,
it's very difficult to up sticks and go. - So he'd play mind games with her and tell her that she'd have to give up all of her animals,
that she would have to pay him half or more of her widow's pensions because they were married
He would just twist her brain with all this false information. It's emotional and mental abuse.
Everybody had concerns at that point for her safety, her mental well-being, emotional,
and her physical safety. [grim music] NARRATOR: Soon after Christmas, Marianne heard a knock at her door.
MARIANNE RAMSEY: They had had a terrible row. And she just ran out of the house, got in the car,
and came to me to escape. She was crying. She was just in a deep depression. Somehow, she just found it very,
very difficult to get out of it and to cope at that stage. NARRATOR: After lunch, they decided to rest.
Marianne woke to find a note from Evelyn. - I always remember it to this day. Gone to feed the dogs and cats.
And so she had gone during some time during the afternoon. - And that was the last time that Evelyn
was seen by anybody. VICKY TAYLOR: A couple of days goes by and she hasn't phoned.
Then everyone's getting concerned. We haven't heard off my mom. That's just completely out of character.
It was unusual for my mom not to ring. MARIANNE RAMSEY: Robert phoned me. And said, "Oh, God, is she still with you?"
And then I thought, oh, my God. I knew something was wrong. It was his choice of words.
Oh, I suppose she's still with you. And the flat voice. If she had gone missing, I mean, surely, as a husband,
there would be emotion. But nothing. NARRATOR: Robert hadn't reported his wife missing either.
- We were all threatening him that you need to report her missing, Robert. This is insane.
Why are you not doing it? And all of the family members started saying they were going to report her.
So then he said, all right, OK, I'll report it. NARRATOR: Three days after his wife failed to come home,
Robert finally called the police. [tense music] - His story had the argument in the morning she had left.
He didn't know where, and she hadn't returned. [tense music] NARRATOR: The national gendarmerie launched a search
for Evelyn and her car. - So we make an investigation in all the country around the Robert from 10 or 20 kilometers.
[tense music] NARRATOR: But the region is dotted with lakes and rivers, so expert underwater search teams were also brought in.
GILL WILLIAMS: Forensic divers in France dived 20 lakes in an attempt to find the vehicle.
And at the time, it was deep winter. And so you've got huge, huge logistical problems here.
They are restricted for how long they can be in there by the amount of air that they're carrying.
And because it's the winter, divers get cold very, very quickly. [tense music] Once you start getting cold, it becomes a danger.
- In terms of an area to search, it was not an easy one. GILL WILLIAMS: You'll never really understand
just how long it takes to physically search even a small area for something. And I know you're looking for something as big as a vehicle.
But they can drift an awful long way out or roll an awful long way. NARRATOR: Investigators used heat
seeking cameras from the air to hunt for any signs of Evelyn. - We make all that we can do to find Evelyn or the car.
- Despite the French having done quite a thorough job-- and certainly, I was quite impressed
with the investigation they had done-- they couldn't find her nor the car. - I said to both of my sisters, I think
he's done something to her. He's killed her, and they agreed. They told Robert we were going to the house.
I was going down to try and do a little bit of Ms. Marple myself, and do a little bit of investigating
and see if I could find anything unusual. [tense music] NARRATOR: In the South of France.
French and English investigators are hunting for missing mother of three, Evelyn Lund.
- Even though her body hadn't been found, we were very much treating it as a murder inquiry
and helping the French on those grounds. NARRATOR: Their suspicions were raised by learning about Evelyn's violent and
controlling marriage to Robert Lund. [tense music] IAN KENNEDY: The family were saying
he would take money from her account and then convince her she'd spent it. They described him, at the time,
as a bit of a gold digger. - Certainly, there were grounds to suspect that her husband may have been somehow involved
in what had happened to her. But at that stage, there was not sufficient evidence
to charge anybody. NARRATOR: Evelyn's daughter, Vicky, made the 900-mile journey to Tarn to help with the search.
- We spent some time driving around the country roads, just looking, looking down ravines, driving around.
And nothing. [tense music] NARRATOR: Vicky confronted her stepfather. [tense music]
VICKY TAYLOR: Of course, I questioned him a lot of questions. Well, what time should she go?
All the usual questions that any normal person would ask. He seemed odd. He was acting really bizarre.
I was going through the house, looking for things. And he would be following me around asking me
what I'm doing. Acting like a guilty man, acting like a person that's got something to hide.
Now, I also found that strange because if you're a loving husband, you would be glad of the support
of family coming together to try and work out what's happened. He was not happy at all that I was there.
NARRATOR: Police secured a warrant to search the couple's smallholding. - And when we got there, Robert was there.
And I remember thinking he was incredibly cool, almost to the point of arrogance with us.
He did not seem to be a worried man. He seemed to be somebody who was very confident that he
was getting away with it. NARRATOR: But during the search, investigators found Evelyn's handbag.
[tense music] They carefully opened it up. - We found a lot of things of Evelyn.
When you want to leave your home, you take a lot of things. You take all your ID, your credit card.
And all these things was found in the home. NARRATOR: Inside the bag was something else of interest.
- Marianne, her friend, said she was wearing a pair of glasses. And her friend distinctly remembered her taking them off,
said they got all misted up, her being upset and, and her friend of giving her a tissue to clean them with.
And her friend distinctly remembered this particular pair of glasses that Evelyn wore all the time.
When we searched the house with the gendarmes, that pair of glasses were at the farmhouse.
[tense music] It was incredibly significant, the finding of the glasses Evelyn needed her glasses to drive.
So that, in itself, was a really good indication that, despite Robert insisting that she had never
gone back there, she had. NARRATOR: At her home, police uncovered more concerning evidence.
[tense music] - Methods used by crime scene investigators using ultraviolet light, sometimes
with enhancing chemicals, make blood shine brighter. The presence of blood is really very significant here.
There was blood splattering at the house in the kitchen area, consistent with an assault.
[tense music] NARRATOR: Robert Lund was brought in for questioning. He claimed his wife had driven off drunk
following an argument. - Robert said that he thought that she would just have gone to a hotel somewhere nearby town just
to cool off or cool down a little bit. That didn't make sense because we knew that she had told her friends
and going back to see the animals. The animals were very, very important to her.
So for those reasons, we were convinced that she would have returned back there.
NARRATOR: And as an English national, Robert used his interview rights under French law
to his advantage. - Robert, at this time, speak French, understand French. But the French law have to impose
us to ask the question in English, to have an interpreter. It makes a lot of time for Robert
to prepare what you have to say. He's very clever. Robert was something very clever.
NARRATOR: As the interviews came to a dead end, Evelyn's husband was released. Not finding her body also created a major legal obstacle.
[grim music] - It was part of French law at the time that without a body, nobody could be charged with murder.
And so the investigation really hit a stumbling block at that point. VICKY TAYLOR: All the while, he's
swanning around, thinking he's got away with it. I think his confidence grew. From what we'd heard, he was back out in the community
and going around the markets and thinking he was clever because he'd got away with it Scot free.
IAN KENNEDY: It got to the point where we, together with the gendarmes, basically came into a cul-de-sac.
We couldn't take it any further. [grim music] NARRATOR: But when Evelyn's body and car were discovered
22 months after her disappearance, 15 miles from her home, investigators hoped the evidence they found would
finally move the case forward. Evelyn's car was sent to the lab for forensic testing.
IAN KENNEDY: They got in the forensic experts. When it was found, the driver's window was down.
It was a significant and significant in that the day that Evelyn went missing, there was a storm
raging through the area. So if you're driving in the storm, the last thing you'd want to do would be to open your window.
NARRATOR: The gearbox was inspected to reveal more. - The car was in neutral, so it was unlikely it was driven in,
or it could have rolled in or been pushed in. And the seat was too far back for Evelyn
to have been driving it. She wouldn't have been able to reach the pedals. NARRATOR: This could explain why the driver's
side window was found open. [tense music] - If you think about it logically, if you wanted to push a car into a lake,
you'd wind down the driver's window so you could reach in and control the steering.
And then you would push it, standing beside it. [tense music] NARRATOR: The forensic findings revealed the likely scenario
once the car hit the water. [tense music] - Initially, it would have taken 2 and 1/2 minutes roughly
for the vehicle to sink. [tense music] The offender would have probably have left the window open also to make
sure it filled with water more quickly so that the vehicle sank more quickly. If Evelyn was conscious, I would
say that as soon as that vehicle started going underwater, she would have desperately tried to get out.
But the back doors weren't open. The back windows weren't open. It would have been difficult, seeing
as she was found in the back seat, for her to get through to the front, to get out through the driver's window,
there's no evidence of any sort of attempt to get out of the vehicle. [tense music]
NARRATOR: The results of Evelyn's post-mortem explained why she didn't try to make an escape.
[tense music] IAN KENNEDY: From what we find out from Evelyn and from her body, from the post-mortem,
was that there was dried blood on her clothing. [tense music] NARRATOR: Forensic tests also found
Evelyn's blood on the back seat of her vehicle. - The finding of blood staining of her clothing and in the car
is a massively important piece of evidence. It depends a little on the actual distribution
of that blood rather than anything else. But it does suggest that she may have been resting, conscious or unconscious, on the back seat
at some point. It shows that it's highly unlikely this was a car accident that ended up with a vehicle in the water.
It points very, very strongly to Evelyn being injured and bleeding prior to the vehicle
entering the water. - There was blood inside the boot she was wearing, which was an indication that she had bled
before her boots were put on. Her boots were the boots that she wore to see the animals, which is what
she said she was going to do. NARRATOR: But something didn't seem right. - Her boots were on the wrong feet.
NARRATOR: It seemed to support Robert's claim Evelyn was drunk the day she went missing.
[tense music] - Boots on the wrong feet is very, very important-- suggests that maybe she was so drunk or under the influence
of drugs that she couldn't manage to dress herself correctly. Even in a body that is very severely decomposed
as Evelyn's body would have been after immersion for 18 months or so in the water, it's still possible to perform
toxicological examinations. Particularly with the organs, it is possible to test for drugs and alcohol
to see whether or not she was drunk at the time of her death. NARRATOR: But toxicology tests revealed
no trace of drugs or alcohol in her body at the time she died. So why were her boots on the wrong feet?
RICHARD SHEPHERD: It strongly suggests, added to other features here like the blood staining,
that someone else dressed her but dressed her incorrectly. - During the postmortem, there was very little water
in her lungs, which was an indication that she was either unconscious or dead at the point
where she entered the water. Adding all that together, there was a very good indication
that she had been killed deliberately or inadvertently placed into the car. And then the car had been pushed
into the water in order for everything to be hidden from the rest of the world. [tense music]
NARRATOR: After three years building their case, the gendarmes arrested and charged Robert Lund
with Evelyn's murder. [tense music] - Robert was remanded in custody where the investigations continue.
NARRATOR: Prosecutors prepared for a trial. Robert Lund would finally face justice.
- It was, to me, a moment of great relief that at last, we were going to get him.
And I would do everything in my power to make sure he was suffering like he had made Evelyn suffer.
[grim music] NARRATOR: In France, Robert Lund is awaiting trial, charged with murdering his wife,
Evelyn, whose body was found in her car deep in a French lake six years earlier.
Prosecutors believe Robert killed her and disposed of her body in the icy water.
VICKY TAYLOR: It was very scary because I knew that I was going to be called as a very important witness.
It was awful, really awful. You know, you spend hours and lay there night after night thinking about what you would say to him
or how you would feel when you see that man again in the flesh. [somber music] NARRATOR: Evelyn's family made the journey
from Lancashire to see their mother's killer face to face. VICKY TAYLOR: It was very disturbing
when they brought him out and he stood in front of you, which was very daunting.
NARRATOR: In court, those closest to Evelyn revealed Robert's violent and controlling nature.
- He always used to stare at me with his horrible eyes, as though trying to intimidate me.
But obviously, I wouldn't let him. - We'd sit there all day long. It was difficult because most of what was being said,
we didn't understand. NARRATOR: And the prosecution outlined Robert Lund's motive, money.
- Robert was a dependent from Evelyn because Evelyn-- in fact, Evelyn has all the money.
Robert had nothing. VICKY TAYLOR: He was very good at taking her cash card and going to the cash machine on the day
that the widow's pension would go into the account and emptying the account. And then he continued to do that after she went missing.
[tense music] NARRATOR: It was revealed Lund would be the sole benefactor of Evelyn's life insurance
and inherit her estate when she died. But days before his wife's disappearance, she planned to break free.
- She contacted divorced line in France to ask about advice about getting a divorce.
[tense music] - When somebody is in an abusive relationship and they're getting ready to leave,
that is the most dangerous time. I can't undersscore the fact that we find over and over again, and research supports this.
- I think he realized that his meal tickets had gone and perhaps, either decided that he could
get her money by killing her. Or maybe in a row, having killed her inadvertently,
he thought, well, I'll stick with this and I'll be able to get my inheritance. [tense music]
NARRATOR: The prosecution took the court through the day Evelyn disappeared. [tense music]
- Nobody was able to say definitively what had happened. But from the circumstances of the car, the fact that she
had blood on her clothing, from the circumstances of finding property belonging to Evelyn at the house that had been
with her when she had lunch with Marianne during the day, adding all that together, the only logical explanation was
that Evelyn had returned home. There had been a continuation of the row from that morning.
During that, she had been killed or knocked unconscious by Robert, and then taken in the car to the lake and dumped.
- And after, back home maybe on a bike or walking. Probably on bike, I think, because there is a long way
from here to his home. NARRATOR: Lund's defense said Evelyn met her death following a car accident.
Robert's claims that she was drunk at the time were also repeated in court. VICKY TAYLOR: Sometimes, he came across as arrogant.
Other times, he was erratic. He's telling lies. And I'm frustrated. And it's unpleasant when there's
witnesses up there speaking about my mom in a bad way. That was really hard as well.
NARRATOR: Not only did the postmortem prove no alcohol was present in Evelyn's blood,
experts also questioned the car crash theory. [water splashing] - I would find it very difficult to believe that she
was in the front seat at all. If Evelyn was in the front seat conscious, when the vehicle went into the water,
she would have tried to get it out through the driver's window seeing as the window was open.
[tense music] And most vehicles obviously have got headrests. There's very little room over the tops of seats in the front.
So even though there would have been a flow of water through, I would have found it very difficult
to believe that Evelyn would have been swept through from the front seat to the back seat.
I still believe that she was placed in the back seat by the offender. NARRATOR: It was also shown to be
unlikely Evelyn would have crashed into that part of the lake. IAN KENNEDY: It was a really awkward lake to get to
and that there was a very narrow path with a very sharp turn on, so you would have
had to have known it, known location, and maneuvered around to do that. - It was difficult for the big car to go in this way.
And there's not a direct way to home. NARRATOR: The final piece of the evidential jigsaw,
the glasses her friend saw her wearing later found at the couple's home. - I had the joy of having loads of pairs of glasses
produced in front of me, and I had to pick out the ones that she'd worn. And I thought, oh, my God.
This is going to be complicated. But luckily, I did remember. And so that proved she had gone home.
- She could not have driven that car to the lake without her glasses, particularly
late in the day, middle of winter, dark, middle of a storm. It was incredibly significant.
VICKY TAYLOR: For it to be murder, the jury have to be satisfied without any shadow
of a doubt in their mind. He's actually planned what he's going to do. They couldn't come to that decision with enough majority.
NARRATOR: Robert Lund was, however, found guilty of involuntary homicide and jailed for 12 years.
MARIANNE RAMSEY: It was a time of celebration that he can suffer for what tragedy
he'd done on the whole of her family and her poor kids. - There was a slight bit of relief
that thank goodness he didn't walk out of there, but just anger and frustration that it wasn't murder.
NARRATOR: In 2009, Lund launched an appeal, which he lost. But a mistrial meant Robert Lund's case
had to be tried for a third time two years later. - It was horrendous. Horrendous.
Twice, twice we have to go through that. And now, to be told we have to go through it again a third time.
[tense music] It was just unbelievable. It was just so overwhelming. We were gutted, absolutely gutted.
NARRATOR: If he was cleared, Lund would finally get Evelyn's life insurance and the inheritance.
But it was not to be. - When they came with the guilty, he collapsed. He had a little bit of a meltdown.
He's completely white. And he sat with his head in his hands, in shock. I think he thought he was going to get away with it.
IAN KENNEDY: Robert always seemed to deny it, even to himself, that he had done anything wrong.
We never saw any remorse. We never saw any grief. We never saw any guilt. NARRATOR: Lund was released from prison in 2013.
- He's evil. He's calculated. He is damaged in his head. A man that was just always out for his own gain.
- The sad part was that she died making moves to leave. I think it's important for anybody in an abusive situation
to absolutely have a team in place that can help you navigate that, to find ways to be
safe and create safety plans. - I wish maybe I could find some words to try to make him realize how evil it was
and what it did to her. It's not going to bring her back. Nothing anybody says is ever going to bring her back.
There are no words that will ever fix what he did. [music playing]

A drought at a French lake reveals a sunken Toyota holding the body of a missing British ex-pat.

In this chilling true crime series, detectives, pathologists and police divers work together to decode complex crime scenes where victims' bodies are discovered in water.

For More FilmRise Check Out Our Other Channels: FilmRise Television: https://www.youtube.com/⁨@UCVVXDVee0JZ2dlPYtpdTZVg FilmRise Movies: https://www.youtube.com/@FilmRiseMovies Highway to Heaven - Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@HighwaytoHeavenFullEpisodes

Brief Summary

Evelyn Lund's body is found in a lake, leading to her husband's trial for murder after evidence of abuse and financial motives emerge.

Key points

The Discovery of a Body. In 2001, a sunken car in Lake Bancalié revealed a tragic secret: the body of Evelyn Lund, missing for two years.
A Troubled Marriage. Evelyn's relationship with Robert Lund was marked by domestic violence and control, raising suspicions after her disappearance.
The Search for Answers. After Evelyn's body was found, detectives investigated her past and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Evelyn's Body Discovered. Evelyn's body and car were found 22 months after her disappearance, reigniting the investigation.
Robert Lund Charged with Murder. After three years, Robert Lund was arrested and charged with Evelyn's murder.
Trial and Conviction. Robert Lund was found guilty of involuntary homicide and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

It was really traumatic in the time that she was missing.

Family member reflecting on the emotional toll of Evelyn's disappearance.

6:03WatchMar 14, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.