At the time of his disappearance, Alan Raffle was under investigation by the police, along with a man called
Larry Dodds, because of an incident involving the theft and resale of a small twin-wheeled car trailer/load
carrier. (Alexander McKenzie had stolen the trailer in the first place and then Raffle had bought it from
him.) Raffle had sold the trailer to Dodds, a scrap metal merchant with yards in Blyth and Backworth,
Northumberland. In his turn, Dodds sold the trailer to another man who had been arrested in its possession.
Through questioning the various men involved in the matter, the police had traced the trailer back to Raffle
who had then been released on police bail to appear at Cramlington police station to assist the police with
their enquiries.