The heartbreaking story behind the biggest manhunt in Nottinghamshire's history

It was a hunt which involved more than 450 police officers from eight different forces. It covered 1,500 acres and cost more than £1.5m. These were the lengths police were prepared to go to to find Terry Rodgers

The manhunt involved over 450 police officers from eight different forces, covered 1,500 acres and cost more than £1.5m. This was the extent to which police were willing to go to find Terry Rodgers, who had fled after fatally shooting his daughter Chanel Taylor.

Incredibly, Rodgers chose to hide in a woodland area where another killer was also attempting to evade the police. Officers searched the area for days on end. This is the story of what happened.

Terence Ian Rodgers, known as Terry, was born on November 26, 1948. He grew up to work in security and was a violent man who served time for assaulting his first wife.

He married Theresa McIntyre in the 1970s but when she left him, he tracked her down and attacked her with a claw hammer. Rodgers was sentenced to 18 months for GBH.

Ms McIntyre divorced him, but after his release, he met Anne Macpherson and they had three children, including Chanel. Ms Macpherson would later reveal on the 'Married to a Murderer' programme that he was violent towards her during their marriage, attacking her with knives and forks, and threatening her with a hammer. She also said that he was violent towards Chanel, too, once grabbing her by the hair and trying to punch her.

In 2004, just weeks before Chanel's wedding to Lee Taylor, Ms Macpherson kicked her husband out of their house in South Normanton. For a period, he found himself homeless. However, his daughter and her new husband welcomed him into their Huthwaite home.

Chanel Taylor, a hairdresser, tied the knot in 2004 with her father by her side. Tragically, just seven weeks after her wedding, her father would be responsible for her death.

Chanel, 23, and Lee, 22, had been together for four years and lived in a terraced house on New Street. Mr Taylor later said: "Chanel was everything to me, not just my wife, she was also my best friend. We had been through so much in our four years together and had become a stronger, closer couple. We knew each other inside out, talked for hours and always made each other laugh. I loved her so much."

On Friday, July 30, 2004, at around 1pm, Lee Taylor came back to their Huthwaite home to discover Chanel dead in the kitchen. She had been shot four times - twice in the head and twice in the body. Rodgers, 55, was missing from the scene.

His red Peugeot 106 was found abandoned in Victoria Street, Hucknall a few hours later, and there were also sightings of him in the area. Police suspected that he had escaped into Annesley Woods.

Strangely enough, another murderer, Robert Boyer, was already hiding in the same woods. Boyer, 42, was the prime suspect in the murder of Keith Frogson, a 62 year old former miner, whose body was found near his home in Bentinck Street, Annesley Woodhouse, on July 19.

Mr Frogson was killed with a crossbow and Samurai sword, which Boyer had purchased online for £150. Suffering from mental health issues, Boyer mistakenly believed Mr Frogson was a threat to him. On the night of the murder, he ambushed Mr Frogson upon his return from the pub, shooting him with the crossbow before attacking him with the sword. It is believed that Boyer, from Skegby Road, Annesley Woodhouse, had been hiding in the woods since the incident.

The search operation was one of the largest manhunts in British history. After receiving information suggesting that one or both men might be hiding in the woods, police initiated a joint search, codenamed Operation Rendition.

Officers from Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Greater Manchester, South Yorkshire and the Met collaborated with Nottinghamshire Police for the operation. Numerous police vehicles were stationed along the A611.

Search officers on the ground were assisted by specialist dog teams and helicopters equipped with heat-detection technology. 'Wanted' posters featuring Rodgers were displayed on lamp-posts and in shop windows in Hucknall, Huthwaite and Sutton-in-Ashfield. 500 were posted in Hucknall alone.

While the woods were the primary focus of the search, the cordoned-off area also included parts of Hollinwell Golf Course and Newstead. Many of the officers were armed, as it was uncertain whether Rodgers or Boyer were armed.

No gun had been discovered at the Taylors' residence in Huthwaite. However, this was about to change. On August 6, six days after police had been called to the scene, the firearm that ended Chanel's life was unearthed. The shooter, Rodgers, had stowed the shotgun beneath a duvet in the residence.

DCI Paul Cottee, head of the probe, explained that an immediate find wasn't anticipated given the detailed examination needed: "We had to conduct a methodical forensic examination of the house," he stated. "It has to be step-by-step to maximise the forensic opportunities in each room."

Terry Rodgers remained hidden for 17 days despite his family's pleas for surrender as the main suspect. He constructed a hideout in the woodland but it was Boyer who police discovered first on August 15.

They spotted a camouflaged shelter and monitored it. They used a taser to capture Boyer at 1 am when he arrived back at the shelter, which was nestled into a hillside and stocked with provisions.

Believed to have been hiding out since July 19, Boyer was confirmed fit for detention by a doctor and questioning began post a rest period. Rodgers' capture came the very next day. When cornered by armed officers, he surrendered without a fight.

Boyer was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at Nottingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Keith Frogson. Chanel Taylor's touching funeral service took place in September at St Katherine's Church, Teversal, where mourners donned her beloved purple and lilac.

Despite the rain, a horse-drawn carriage transported Chanel's coffin, adorned with lilac wreaths, to the church. Notts Inspector Barry Harper conveyed a heartfelt statement from Mr. Taylor before the service, expressing how they had envisioned a future filled with love and family: "We were looking forward to a happy future together. She was such a loving person. We had talked about having children and I know she would have made a great mum."

Mr. Taylor lamented, "All those plans have been taken away now. I feel like I have lost everything." During the ceremony, Reverend Richard Kellett recited tributes, and attendees were moved by three of Chanel's favourite songs – 'Amazed' by Lone Star, 'Time of my Life' by Jennifer Warnes and Bill Medley, and 'Heaven' by Bryan Adams.

The tragedy further unfolded as Terry Rodgers confessed to Chanel's manslaughter under diminished responsibility, rejecting the accusation of murder. Prosecutors did not accept his plea, pushing for a murder trial set for March 6, 2006.

Rodgers, however, began to refuse food shortly after being remanded to Lincoln Prison. He had declared upon incarceration that he did not wish to be force-fed. Three months after arriving at Lincoln prison in 2004, the inmate was watched closely for suicidal tendencies following threats to take his own life. Items such as half a mug of tablets and shoelaces were discovered in his cell.

By December 20, 2004, he started to reject food, expressing his desire in a note dated July 28, 2005: "My intention is to be with my daughter."

In the period before his death, he consumed only three litres of orange juice a day, scarcely eating. It would have violated his human rights to force-feed him.

Initially sectioned under the Mental Health Act and placed in Arnold Lodge secure psychiatric unit in Leicester, he was later sent back to Lincoln jail and found mentally competent at his passing. Shortly before his trial, which was set to begin a week later, he was moved to hospital and passed away at Lincoln County Hospital on February 25, 2006, at age 57, weighing just 6st 12lb.

The cause was bronchial pneumonia due to extreme malnourishment. His estranged wife Anne commented at the time: "He's cheated everybody. He's taken the coward's way out and I hope he rots in hell."

The case against him was officially closed at Nottingham Crown Court on March 9, 2006. As for why he murdered Chanel, the truth remains unknown, although a friend speculated that Chanel might have requested he leave their home once she returned from her honeymoon.

An inquest into the case heard that Rodgers was diagnosed with "anti-social personality disorder" and a "psychopathic disorder". Prior to his trial, he underwent psychological evaluations, with four distinct reports set to be presented to the jury.

However, as Detective Chief Inspector Paul Cottee explained: "He admitted in court he has killed Chanel. But he never disclosed why, which is all the family wanted to know." He expressed disbelief at the father's actions, stating: "For a father to shoot his daughter four times and make an admission to that, but give no good reason, beggars belief." DCI Cottee went on to suggest that the killing could have stemmed from Rodgers' marital breakdown.