Cold case cops make breakthrough in hunt for killer of Carol Ann Stephens, 6, found dead weeks after ‘going out to play’

COLD case cops investigating the murder of a six-year-old girl more than 60-years-ago have shared vital clues in the mystery.

Carol Ann Stephens, just six, was snatched from her Cardiff home on April 7, 1959, while playing with pals in the street.

Two weeks later on April 22, her body was found in a ravine 60 miles away in the isolated hamlet of Horeb, Carmarthenshire.

It's thought she had been dead for a week before being discovered in the stream.

In the months leading up to her murder, Carol had spoken of her "new uncle".

The day she vanished, eye witnesses said they saw her approaching a dark green car before tapping on the window and getting in.

Speaking on ITV's Cold Case Detectives on Thursday, veteran detective Gerry Blake revisited the tragic case.

Gerry knew Carol as a child and her murder mystery was a reason he joined the police.

He hoped modern DNA technology could be used to finally find her killer - starting with suspect Ronald Edward Murray.

Murray worked for Carson's Chocolates in Bristol and the company gave their workers green Morris Minors.

This revelation matched the description of the car Carol got in that fateful day.

Murray also worked at a brick factory in Horeb, near to where Carol was found.

But Gerry told the show this was not enough evidence.

He explained: "There was a lot of circumstantial evidence suggesting Ronald Murray’s involvement in the alleged offence but there wasn’t that golden nugget I would say…

"So there wasn’t enough to charge."

He also revealed how one of the children playing with Carol the day she was taken was wearing a Red Indian outfit.

But because the children were just six, they were never questioned by police on what they saw - despite them being key witnesses.

Cops in Thursday's documentary said these youngsters may hold "vital" clues as to what happened that day.

Ronald Murray was also suspected of killing his wife Della - who died under suspicious circumstances.

He claimed he discovered Della in the living room of their home as result of a game he played with his son where he would turn the gas off so the lad couldn't make a cup of tea.

Murray claimed at Della's inquest that the lad tried the trick on him but left the gas on, killing his mum.

Her death was ruled accidental.

Despite making circumstantial breakthroughs in the case, modern DNA testing in ITV's documentary could not return a conclusive result into how Carol died.

It means her murder remains unsolved.

Scientists have recommended that the child's clothes are kept and could be tested again in three to five years if DNA testing develops further.

Also on last night's show, investigators revealed how they cracked a 30-year-long rape mystery.

Anthony Carling, 63, dragged a woman into bushes and raped her in Harlequin Field in Roath, Cardiff, Wales, in 1991.

He had approached her from behind before punching the woman, who was walking her dogs at the time, to the ground.

Speaking in 2019, the woman he attacked described the barbaric ordeal as "a nightmare" adding "my life has been virtually over for the last 30 years".

Following the attack, the victim handed the clothes she was wearing to police but they were never able to trace Carling.

For years, the sadistic attacker, from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, evaded capture.

That was until detectives revisiting the case discovered a semen stain on the victims coat.

Carling had provided a DNA swab for an unrelated matter in 2013 and officers were able to link him to the crime.