Oh, my dad's body isn't there. >> Right, okay. Okay. >> Yep, okay. >> This is Virginia McCullough, and police had come to this house because they needed to speak to her about her parents. John and Lois McCullough had not been seen by their family for years. Before officers had searched the house, Virginia gave them an answer nobody expected. She told them, "You got the bad guy." That one sentence would lead police from a welfare concern to a confession, a murder investigation. >> All right. >> It's fine. >> All right. >> All right. >> John McCullough had medical appointments and medication to collect. By September 2023, his GP had become concerned that both John and Lois had not been seen for some time. Appointments were repeatedly canceled. Medication was not collected, and each time there was another explanation. The GP raised concerns with safeguarding services, which then referred the matter to Essex police. When an officer contacted Virginia by phone, she gave a detailed explanation that her parents were traveling and would return later. But police had heard too many versions of the same story. They were unwell. They were on holiday. They were traveling. That was enough for police to go to the Pump Hill house in Great Baddow. >> I'm going to take you home. No one in here at the moment. Hold on. It's the police. >> GOT IT. >> STAY WHERE YOU ARE. >> STAY WHERE YOU ARE. >> STAY WHERE YOU ARE. STAY WHERE YOU ARE. YEAH. >> Good night. >> Yep. >> Good night. >> Oh. >> The time is 12:12. You're under arrest on suspicion against John and Lois McCullough, and Lois McCullough. Okay? You don't have to say anything, but in my home defense wish. when questioned, so shall I just put anything to do so as to be in the interest of justice? >> Okay. All right. You were arrested for a public order offense. >> Is there anything in the property we should know about? >> Yes. >> Where? >> Can I take you to it? >> No. You can tell me. >> Uh can we go in there for a second just so I can tell you something? >> Yeah? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> I can tell >> Yeah. I want to tell you something. >> Can I just say that I need to tell you something about what's upstairs on top of the drawers as well? >> This one here? Okay. Is he in here, then? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yes. My two feet are obviously in here. >> I'm sorry. Not at all. >> No, it's fine. >> Uh I know that obviously I've got to check up. >> Mhm. >> Um my dad's body isn't there. >> Right. Okay. >> [snorts] >> Yep. Okay. Um obviously I'll >> What about your mom? >> Um a little bit more complicated. >> Okay. >> Um can I That's why I said can I go upstairs and >> All right. Can you explain it to us basically? We're trying to preserve this It's not going to be seen. So, we need to preserve this as best we can. So, I don't want to have you walking up there, all right? Cuz it's That That's for your well-being as well as ours. >> Oh, no. I I I I >> Okay. So, what's Where Where Where will we find your mom? Where will we find your mom? >> Okay. So, upstairs there are about five wardrobes. >> Yep. >> Um it's behind a bed at back next to a sink. It's the second one. >> By this point, detectives were no longer dealing only with a missing person concern. Virginia had made statements that told officers something serious had happened inside the home. John McCulloch had been concealed on the ground floor of the home in a room that had been used as his bedroom and study. Lois McCulloch was found upstairs inside a wardrobe in her bedroom. She had been wrapped in a sleeping bag and concealed there. John and Lois had not left the house. They had not moved away. For years, Virginia had sent messages and given explanations that created the appearance that her parents were still alive. Now, police had found the truth inside the same home where those messages had been sent from. >> Um I slipped foil of those into his drink. Um there were about two or three drinks that I brought downstairs. Um and yeah, they were basically he he didn't drink all of them. He only drank probably about half of two. But um yeah, when I went in in the morning, this was before my mother. Uh when I went in the morning, early hours, I got up about half an hour early, about um 6:00 in the morning, uh came in and he was gone. He was gone. It's um >> It's up to you if you want to talk. >> Yeah, I think >> But the thing is, purpose of your arrest, um the purpose of your arrest is for for a prompt effective investigation, as well as for questioning you. We can't do that here. It needs to be done at the police station, all right? >> I did know that this would kind of come eventually. Um it's proper that I serve my punishment, so I Yeah. >> Okay, so Virginia, I'm just going to ask you this. This is what I've written down based on the information you've told us, cuz what we regard as a significant comment that you've made it on under caution after your arrest. >> By the way, a wardrobe, that's in my granny's >> Okay, right. So, I'll put it in this place. Um I, Virginia McCulloch, have been have informed police constable 77329 Brown and 79387 Bowers, after entering my house on Friday, the 15th of September, 2023, that I my father, John McCulloch, who was stated was under a bed in the rear ground floor of the house, and my mother upstairs in a cupboard next to the sink. >> Wardrobe. Wardrobe. It's a The wardrobe. >> Right, okay. I'll put it in the >> No, it's like four words but it's the one they all think double murder. >> The cupboard. >> June 18th, 2019. Virginia McCullough used her mother's phone to send a message to one of her sisters. Your dad and I are at the seaside in Walton this week. Good night. For Virginia's family, those texts appeared ordinary. They sounded like messages from a mother checking in with her children. Over the next four years, the messages continued. She used her parents' phones, different SIM cards, and online services to keep the illusion alive. She sent birthday cards through an online printing service. She used messages to cancel family plans. She gave reasons why John and Lois could not speak on the phone and could not come to family events. At one point, she even spoke to one of her sisters while pretending to be her own mother. Every message had the same purpose, to delay the next question. Why can't we visit? Why can't we speak to them? For four years and three months, Virginia created answers that pushed those questions into the future. >> Yeah. >> What's significant that's all written down there here now I've just read out to you. You happy to sign that to say that's a true or fair or true account? >> Yeah. Jared, I've at least you caught the bad guy. >> Okay. >> I know I don't like what I've done but I've done my job. I know I don't like what I've done but we all Yeah, not like >> I'm not going to comment on anything. It's not my job to comment on it, okay? Cuz I've got to be impartial with everything, okay? So, I'm not going to give you any comments. >> No. No, well, I mean, I deserve to obviously uh get whatever's coming to me cuz that's the right thing um to do. And that might give me a bit of peace. Um also in the handbag as well, there's um it and again, case you're probably going to need to know about it, there's a card in there. Um card and money. Um and um that's bank card where um there's um a lot of transactions that have taken place over the last few years. >> What? >> Um money that was transferred to my parents. >> John and Lois trusted her with parts of their financial arrangements, but Virginia had been stealing from them, taking out loans in their names and spending money on online game and shopping. When money disappeared, she gave them explanations. She said they had been victims of fraud. She said there had been banking failures. She claimed they had been hacked. She even invented police and corporate investigations that would supposedly return their money after another delay. By June 2019, the judge said Virginia was nearly 60,000 pounds in debt. After John and Lois died, the financial deception did not stop. Virginia impersonated her mother to obtain a replacement credit card and PIN. She used her parents' pensions, bank accounts, credit cards, winter fuel payments, and newly opened credit accounts. She also contacted her father's pension company while pretending to be him. The court found that the total money taken was almost 150,000 pounds. >> So, you um another election is upstairs in the living room. Um uh kitchen on um um it's in the middle of the brown carpet. Um against the wall opposite shelves. So, there are two long white shelves that are opposite where that wall is. That's where the microwave is. So, next bit is very hard to talk about. That's probably the most grizzly detail. So, on the um ground floor, underneath the stairs, there's a few like storage boxes and things. Um and in the middle, um I think it's in one of the boxes or in a bag or something. Um there um If you want me to shut shut this, it's fine. Um but every bit helps. You'll You'll find forensics helpful. This hammer. Uh I know. I know. I know, but I'm I'm trying to help you find everything. It's in the middle underneath the stairs. It will still have blood on it. It's rusted, but it will still have blood traces on it. So, not cooperating is It's futile. There's no point in not cooperating. You agree with that? And I'm half I thought my my eyes should have worked on that the other side of the room. Nothing. So, Yeah. >> The family did not ignore John and Lois. They received texts. They received cards. They heard explanations. But over time, the pattern changed. There were no face-to-face visits, no direct conversations, no medical appointments, no proof that John and Lois were living the life their messages described. The case is a reminder that a text message is not always confirmation that someone is safe. In this case, a GP's concern and a welfare referral finally brought police to the door. Stay vigilant. Stay recorded. This is Badge Files.