Channel 5's new documentary, Missing Or Murdered: The Disappearance of Luke Durbin, lands next week, and it's set to consider a number of key possibilities about what could have happened to the 19-year-old, including one that his family has never spoken about before - his involvement in drugs.
Airing on Tuesday 28th April, the programme delves into the chilling case - which remains unsolved - with powerful testimony from his family, Detective Inspector Ian Addison, who worked on his disappearance at the time, and John Brocklebank, a senior investigating officer with Suffolk police.
Advert
For those who aren't familiar with his case, Luke was reported missing on Saturday 13th after he didn't return to his Suffolk home, and soon a huge police investigation was launched.
CCTV shows footage of Luke trying to find his way home after his night out, but having left his phone and wallet at a friend's house, taxis refused to take him and there were no buses or trains.
The last confirmed sighting of Luke is on CCTV, close to the bus station around 4am on 12th May.
Over the following weeks, the Suffolk police conducted searches on foot, with dog units and via helicopter, as well as speaking to over 100 people logged on Luke's mobile phone and media appeals by Luke's devastated family.
Advert
"In a final image Luke walks over a zebra crossing close to the bus station but then disappears out of the lives of his family and friends," Channel 5 reminds us.
Now, for the first time Luke's mother Nicki and his sister, Alicia, are set to discuss his drug use, as the documentary ponders whether this could have had anything to do with his disappearance.
It turns out Luke had used drugs since his mid teens.
Advert
"I was aware that Luke smoked cannabis, and when Luke first went missing there was a lot of rumours and information about Luke being involved with drugs on a much bigger scale," Nicki says in the documentary.
"He was always a smart lad, but he was stoned most of the time at school," his school friend, Rob Turner, adds. "He just wanted to have a good time most of the time, have a beer, a joint and just chill out".
However, it wasn't Luke taking drugs which has sparked speculation, but the fact he also dealt them.
"He always used to help his friends out with weed and stuff," Rob says. But things spiralled from there.
Advert
By the time he went missing, police state that Luke had resorted to dealing "most days".
"There's a lot of very nasty people around here, and if they don't like you they'll get you," his friend Rob cryptically adds. "It was spoken about that Luke was undercutting people and treading on people's toes, and it wasn't very appreciated by the other people".
"You have to look at whether Luke had come to harm as a result of competition over turf or territory," Officer Brocklebank theorises.
The documentary will go on to show the prevalence of county lines drug trade in the area - which essentially means people coming in to take business from small-town dealers, like Luke.
Advert
But could it have been these individuals who were behind his disappearance?
Other theories posed in the programme include the possibility that Luke could have been sent to another city to work off drug debts, or even run off to start a new life somewhere.
But according to his mother, the latter seems unlikely at best.
"Luke always let me know where he was so him going missing was completely out of character," Nicki says, sombrely theorising later in the programme: "I do think Luke has been murdered".
To see the whole interview with Nicki, Alicia, his friends and the police and make your own conclusions, tune in to the new episode next week.
Missing Or Murdered: The Disappearance of Luke Durbin airs on Channel 5 on Tuesday 28th April at 10pm.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 5Topics: True Crime, TV News, TV Entertainment, Channel 5