‘What frightened me most was the children no one noticed had gone missing’

Monica Dolan says researching Rosemary West exposed the crisis of children who vanish unnoticed as the actor talks to Tara Cobham about joining The Independent's SafeCall

- Tara Cobham

The acclaimed actor Monica Dolan has spoken movingly about researching the plight of missing young people who “no one even notices have gone” while preparing to play the role of the serial killer Rosemary West.

The Bafta-winning star shared how she was affected by these revelations, which triggered “nightmares about the faces of the young people”, as she became the latest high-profile figure to back The Independent’s SafeCall campaign.

Alongside Missing People, a charity Dolan has worked closely with ever since playing West, this publication is raising money to launch a vital new service for children in crisis.

She told The Independent: “One of the things that really struck me about that case was that some of those young people had been missing for 20 years or more – and no one was looking for them, no one had even noticed that they’d gone. That struck me more than the violence. I think that was something that I learned through doing it.”

Dolan, 56, has since urged the public to donate to the appeal as momentum builds behind efforts to set up the free, round-the-clock service, with more than £75,000 received in donations so far.

She became an ambassador for Missing People, the UK’s only charity dedicated to reconnecting missing people with their loved ones, after starring in the 2011 ITV drama Appropriate Adult, alongside Dominic West, who played her character’s husband, Fred.

“Rosemary and Fred West targeted young people between the ages of 16 and 25. They would have done that partly deliberately,” she said.