The death of Christopher Chandler on the A3 is set to become modern classic ghost story. It is the manner of the finding of the body that makes the story.
It appears in Philip Hutchinson’s fine book, Haunted Guildford and I have even read it in a book dealing with London Ghosts, Haunted London by Richard Jones.
The story as printed by Adam Blenford and Chris Millar, in the Evening Standard 13.12.2002. It all started with motorists reporting car lights veering off the road into the trees. This was on the 11th December 2002 at 7.20pm. Police following up the reports found a car hidden in the trees. Inside the car they found the decomposed body of Christopher Chandler, reported missing on the 16th July that year. One officer was reported as saying that the finding of the five month old corpse spine-chilling. It was questioned in the article, whether the reports of the car lights seen going off the road was a ghostly re-enactment of the original accident.
The story gives the impression of a ghostly re-enactment of the crush, leaving even the police spooked.
The local newspaper the Surrey Advertiser reported the incident on the 13th December2002, saying that a member of the public had reported the car. The body was reported as being found by the side of the car.
On the 15th August 2003 the Surrey Advertiser reported on the inquest. The reason for reporting the car was the finding of a number plate by a member of the public. The car was hidden by fallen trees.
The driver, who did not have a driving licence, had been drinking the night he disappeared, and had fallen asleep at the pub. He dropped off a friend and was heading to his mother’s house down the A3.
The fact that the car and body had been hidden for five months by a very busy road made it a very unusual incident. A story about lights being seen crashing into the woods (instead of the finding of number plate, as stated at the inquest) turned it into a great ghost story.
