A NOTORIOUS killing where the body of an East Lancashire wife was found in a lake in France is set to feature on a new crime documentary series.

The episode tells the tragic story of how Evelyn Lund’s decomposed body was discovered on the back seat of her car in Lake Bancalie almost two years after she went missing from the farmhouse she shared with her husband Robert Lund in Rayssac, south west France.

In 1999, Evelyn, formerly of Darwen, left the home of her close friend – and was never seen again.

The following month her second husband Robert Lund, a former tree protection officer from Blackburn, reported her missing and French police began their search for Evelyn.

A show spokesman said: "Visiting her worried family in England, they teamed up with Lancashire police and the united forces began to piece together a worrying picture of the troubled domestic life of Evelyn and Lund.

"With no sign of Evelyn and evidence mounting, the finger of suspicion pointed towards Lund.

"Convinced that this was more than a simple missing person case, police arrested Lund but under French law they were unable to pursue a murder charge without a body, so he was later released.

"October 2001 marked a turning point in this case, when a passing horse-rider spotted the roof of a Toyota Landcruiser in a remote French lake.

"This vehicle belonged to Evelyn and inside the vehicle police found her body. After a three-year wait, Evelyn's family saw Lund convicted of involuntary homicide and sentenced to 12 years in prison."

Two Lancashire Telegraph journalists, Neil Johnson and Clare Cook, were called as witnesses during Lund’s trials after they had gone to France to investigate the case and speak to him.

Lund was released from jail in 2013.

When Missing Turns to Murder features on the Crime + Investigation channel on Monday April 29 at 9pm (Sky 156, Virgin 275, BT 328 and TalkTalk 328).

The series is available on all catch up and on demand services.