What happened to Lauren Bolton on Coronation Street and why was Roy Cropper arrested?

Coronation Street has been airing an explosive disappearance storyline recently.

Longtime soap fans have been left gripped over Lauren Bolton going missing and Roy Cropper being wrongly arrested for the crime with the storyline to take more dark twists and turns next week. However, for new fans tuning in, you may be thinking what happened to Lauren and why has Roy been arrested? Here we take a look at the storyline gripping the nation…

Lauren arrived in Weatherfield in 2022 after helping to recruit Max Turner to an extremist far right gang. Max was initially interested in Lauren, but things soon fizzled out between the pair when the truth about the group’s plans were revealed. Her dad was one of the leaders of the group and she had been dragged into the whole thing alongside Max.

Since then, Lauren has tried to turn her life around, getting a job at Roy’s Rolls yet she soon resorted to crime again last year, blackmailing Daisy Midgeley and Ryan Connor about their affair for cash. It soon became clear that Lauren was desperate for cash as it was revealed that she was posting videos on the adult content platform O-Vidz.

Through this, it was revealed that Lauren had a mystery boyfriend, who was thought to be a subscriber. What started off as them giving her money and expensive gifts, and seemingly taking her on lavish dates, quickly turned into a nightmare for the teenager. Lauren was seen dumping the mystery controlling person over phone but they kept bombarding her with calls and constant messages. Lauren told the man to leave her alone as the gifts continued.

Earlier this year, they even paid her a visit before bruises were shown on her body, and just days later Lauren vanished. Viewers never saw Lauren leave and she told no one close to her of her plan to leave Weatherfield aside from her café job boss Roy, where she claimed she was leaving Weatherfield for a new life.

However, Lauren’s friend Bobby was left concerned to see her vanish with no word, especially as her flat was trashed and unlocked, hinting at a sign of struggle. Bobby reported Lauren as missing to the police and became suspicious of almost everyone on the cobbles.

Meanwhile, innocent Roy – who believes Lauren has simply left the cobbles to start a new life – decided to clean Lauren’s flat in a bid to help his friend Evelyn Plummer. However, many thought the act was suspicious and proved that he was guilty and was disposing of evidence, especially Bobby. Things went from bad to worse when the police found traces of blood and human tissue at Lauren’s flat, sparking not only a missing person case but a suspected murder case too.

Roy and Daniel Osbourne, who tutored Lauren, found themselves as number one suspects but in the end, due to Roy’s kind and honest nature, the local café owner was arrested on suspicion of murdering his former employee. Since then, Roy has accidentally made matters worse for himself by refusing to keep a low profile and showing up a vigil for Lauren, which online trolls and sleuths twisted online.

Even Roy’s late wife Hayley Cropper’s son Christian has said hurtful things about him online. After reading an article last week, Roy was left utterly heartbroken to learn that Christian had insinuated he had killed Hayley and that Lauren isn’t his “first victim”. Longtime soap fans will recall that Hayley tragically passed away in 2014 after she decided to end her own life following her terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

Also last week, Roy’s kind nature got him into even more trouble when Lauren’s mum ‘Kerry’ showed up on the cobbles, which resulted in Roy opening his heart and letting her stay with him. However, ‘Kerry’ turned out to be a lady called Alice, who was at Roy’s under false pretences and secretly filmed everything she saw, claiming he’s a murderer.

After discovering the truth about her identity, Alice then taunted Roy and started filming him, even bringing up his beloved late wife Hayley. Roy was left shocked over the mention of Hayley as he grabbed the phone off her, which resulted in Alice falling over as she tried to get her device back and cutting her head. Alice then went to the police, claiming Roy assaulted her, and after being questioned in a tense grilling, it was revealed that Roy had been charged with Lauren’s murder and he’s been refused bail.

In upcoming scenes, things only get worse for Roy as sleuths hold his dog hostage in an attempt to trick him into confessing to Lauren’s murder. It remains to be seen if Lauren is dead or alive and what will happen to poor old innocent Roy…