ITV’s new crime drama ‘Gone‘ is keeping viewers hooked with its tense mystery and compelling detective lead. But what many people may not realize is that the determined investigator at the center of the show isn’t entirely fictional.
While the plot itself is a work of imagination, the series’ DS Annie Cassidy is inspired by a real-life police officer whose career included solving one of the region’s most challenging cold cases.
The Real-Life Detective Behind ITV’s Thriller ‘Gone’
‘Gone‘ creators drew inspiration for the protagonist from the real-life career of former Gloucestershire Police detective superintendent Julie Mackay. Known for her persistence and dedication to solving complex cases, Mackay built a strong reputation during her legal career.
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Over time, Mackay’s investigative work began attracting wider attention. The cases she handled and the methods she used eventually became the focus of a detailed account of real-life murder investigations in the book ‘To Hunt a Killer‘.
However, Mackay’s contributions weren’t the only ones in the book. ITV crime correspondent Robert Murphy also co-wrote the book with her, drawing from his years of reporting major criminal cases across the West of England.
Given their solid experience in crime reporting and murder investigations over the years, both Mackay and Murphy served as consultants on ‘Gone‘, which helped the production team portray the police investigations more authentically.
The Chilling Cold Case That Defined Julie Mackay’s Reputation
After achieving an iconic career graph marked by a series of complex cases, the murder case of 17-year-old Melanie Road back in 1984 pushed her towards popularity.
When Mackay joined Avon and Somerset Police’s cold case review team in 2009, she decided to reopen Melanie’s case. Upon meeting Melanie’s mother, Mackay reportedly promised that she would continue working on the investigation until her daughter’s killer was finally identified.
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The renewed investigation required years of detailed work. But Mackay and her team carefully revisited evidence collected during the original 1984 inquiry and applied modern forensic techniques to the old material. By re-examining the evidence, investigators were able to obtain new DNA samples that were unavailable during the original investigation.
Their efforts finally led to a breakthrough. In 2015, investigators secured a DNA match that resulted in an arrest more than three decades after the crime took place.
The long investigation later became the basis for the book ‘To Hunt a Killer‘. While ‘Gone‘ does not retell the Melanie Road case, Mackay’s determination and decades-long pursuit of justice inspired the strong detective viewers see in the ITV thriller.
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