David Evans, formerly Michael Willis, a disgraced ex BBC DJ, died after falling into the River Dart.
He was missing since December. Reports say he took a water taxi to his yacht in Devon, which was moored in the River Dart. The RNLI and coastguards looked for him, searching the River Dart without success. They couldn’t find Michael Willis.
On January 20, a body surfaced and was discovered half a mile away. The coroner identified the body as David Evans, age 79. The coroner said he lived on his boat, which was moored on the River Dart. Police were told he was missing after people hadn’t seen him. No foul play is suspected, but his cause of death is unknown.
In 2020, Willis went to jail for having indecent images of children. Police raided his private yacht and found almost 500 images. Willis DJ’d as Steve Merike and was a BBC Radio One DJ back in the 1970s. He also DJ’d on Radio Caroline, and in the 1980s, he was at Radio Trent, where he worked with Dale Winton.
His ex-wife’s current husband gave a reply when asked about Willis’s death, simply saying, “Good.” In 2015, Willis got a suspended term at Leicester Crown Court. He moved to Plymouth, living on his boat at Plymouth Yacht Haven.
He denied having many indecent images, which showed sexual abuse, and claimed they weren’t his. Police arrested him in 2013 for similar images; he used file-sharing software, he admitted, and searched for indecent images too. He said he didn’t know how the worst images showed up.
Juries dismissed his story and found him guilty after a trial. Willis admitted to downloading images featuring children between 2006 and 2013, claiming he was interested in the Savile affair and wanted to share insights.
Willis ran for Parliament in 2010, representing the Liberal Democrats. He lost to Nicky Morgan and lectured at colleges for years. He also served as a school governor.