Britain’s most notorious unsolved murders including Melanie Hall, Suzy Lamplugh and Jill Dando that have left cops baffled
THEY’RE the murders which have baffled cops around Britain and caused heartaches for friends and family desperate for justice for their loved ones.
With almost a quarter of all murders committed in the UK remaining unsolved, according to recent figures, Sun Online takes a look at some of the most notorious and infamous cases still to be solved.
BABES IN THE WOOD
Thirty years ago, two 18-year-old boys were walking through a scenic nature reserve in Brighton when they made the grisly discovery of two murdered schoolgirls.
Nicola Fellows, 10 and her nine-year-old friend Karen Hadaway were strangled, sexually abused and then left in undergrowth in Wild Park.
The tragic pals were huddled together in the bushes, with Karen’s head resting on her friend’s lap.
The youngsters had been snatched a day earlier on October 9, 1986, from an estate near where they lived after going out to play.
No one has ever been convicted of the chilling murders of Nicola and Karen, who became known as the Babes in the Wood, despite the inquiry becoming bigger than the Brighton bombing investigation.
BILLIE-JO JENKINS
On February 15, 1997, Billie-Jo Jenkins was battered to death with an 18-inch iron tent peg as she painted a patio door in the garden of her Hastings home.
The 13-year-old was discovered in a pool of blood with head injuries after the brutal murder, which shocked the nation.
She had a troubled early start to life and was placed in foster care with an unrelated family after her dad was jailed and her mum found herself unable to cope.
The schoolgirl's foster father Sion Jenkins spent six years behind bars over her murder but after two retrials where the jury failed to reach a verdict, he was formally acquitted in 2006.
Almost two decades later, Billie-Jo's killer remains at large.
related stories
CAROLINE GLACHAN
The 14-year-old had just waved goodbye to her friends and was on her way to meet her boyfriend when she was bludgeoned to death and dumped in the River Leven.
Her battered body was found in the water the next day by a drug addict with her trainers placed on the riverbank in West Dunbartonshire August 25, 1996.
Caroline had been the victim of a seemingly motiveless, violent attack.There was no evidence of a sexual assault but a taxi driver recalled seeing a hooded man on the night she was killed.
Despite a Crimewatch appeal and emotional pleas from her mum, the teen's killer has never been found.
SUZY LAMPLUGH
Thirty years ago estate agent Suzy Lamplugh went to meet a client by the name of Mr Kipper to show him round a house in Fulham, London.
After the mystery house viewing, Suzy was never seen again.
Convicted murderer John Cannan was questioned about the disappearance but as the investigation fails to bring up any credible leads, Suzy Lamplugh is officially declared dead in 1994.
Over the decades, police have chased up a number of leads, including checking the prosecution files of vile Suffolk Strangler Steve Wright who knew Suzy in the 80s, but no other evidence linked the serial killer to the crime.
MELANIE HALL
University graduate Melanie disappeared after a night out in Bath 20 years ago.
She was last seen in the early hours sitting on a stool on the edge of the dance floor at Cadillacs nightclub in Bath on June 9 1996.
Her remains were found by a workman 13 years after she went missing in 2009.
There have been several arrests in connection with her death but no one has ever been charged.
JILL DANDO
Crimewatch presenter Jill Dando was shot dead outside her flat in West London in 2001 – her killer has never been found.
At the time of her death she was one of the best known faces of the BBC.
Barry George - who had a history of stalking women and sexual offences - was convicted of the crime, but after eight years in prison was acquitted.
The culprit has never been found.
CLAUDIA LAWRENCE
Chef Claudia Lawrence vanished on her way to work at York university in March 2009.
Despite multiple arrests no-one has ever been charged with her disappearance.
North Yorkshire Police believe she was murdered, although her body has never been found.
Her dad Peter Lawrence, 70, spoke recently about wanting investigators to look into claims double killer Christopher Halliwell could be responsible for her disappearance.
But Wiltshire Chief Constable Mike Veale a national effort to try to tie Halliwell to further crimes had proved fruitless.
MURIEL DRINKWATER
Muriel was just 12-years-old when she was raped and shot in the woods in Penllergaer, Swansea on her way home from school in 1946.
The case became known as the Little Red Riding Hood murder.
A description of a man - about 30 with "thick fluffy hair and wearing brown corduroy trousers and a light brown sports jacket” – was given in connection to the killing.
Police believe the killer would have been between 18 and 25 when the murder was carried out, and would now be around 80.
KATE BUSHELL
On November 15, 1997, Kate Bushell, 14, was walking her neighbour's Jack Russell when her throat was slit.
Her dad made the horrifying discovery of the schoolgirl's body in a field just 700 yards from the family home in Exwick, Exeter.
Locals said they saw a blood-soaked man running from the area just minutes before Kate's body was found.
Her killer is still on the loose but a retired detective believe the youngster's death is linked to two other women who were slain while walking dogs in isolated areas.
LINDA COOK
Barmaid Linda, 24, left the Portsmouth home she was staying in to visit a friend nearby in December 1986.
She was raped and strangled in an area of wasteland, and her attacker stamped on her several times with such force that her jaw and spine were fractured, her larynx crushed, and imprints of his right athletic shoe were retained on her abdomen.
Linda's brutal attack lasted 15 minutes and her naked body was discovered later the same day in a horrific killing later dubbed the Cinderella Murder.
Seaman Michael Shirley, 18, was caged for life for the barmaid's murder but was released after 16 years in jail - the first time a UK court quashed a previous conviction on the basis of presentation of new DNA evidence.
ROBERT PAKINGTON
London merchant Robert Pakington crossed the street from his home in Cheapside to attend the chapel opposite on the morning on November 13, 1536.
He was shot dead with a wheellock pistol in most likely the first ever murder committed with a handgun in London.
His murderer was never found, despite the 'gret rewarde' which was offered for information.
However, some historians have speculated that his killing might have been ordered by bishops in the city because he had spoken in Parliament against "the covetousness and cruelty of the clergy".
TORSO IN THE THAMES
The dismembered torso of a young black child was discovered floating towards Tower Bridge in the River Thames on the afternoon of Friday, September 21, 2001.
The boy's limbs and had been removed and the only clothing was a pair of orange shorts around the stumps of his legs.
In the absence of positive identification, police named the body Adam.
Police believe Adam was from Nigeria, and was murdered as part of a West African magic ritual.
Despite being potentially identified as Patrick Erhabor, a child brought to London from Germany after his parents had been deported back to Nigeria, nobody has been charged with his murder and the gruesome case remains open.
JULIA WALLACE
The murder of Julia Wallace in January 1931 is one of the most written about cold cases in British history.
The night before her murder in February 1933, Julia's insurance salesman husband William went to meet a man called R.M Qualtrough at 25 Menlove Gardens East to discuss insurance the next day.
He made his way by tramcar to the south of the city at the time requested, only to discover that while there were Menlove Gardens North, South and West, there was no East.
After searching for 45 minutes, he returned home to find his wife bludgeoned to death on the floor.
Wallace was convicted of his wife's murder and sentenced to death by hanging but his conviction was overturned on appeal and the killer has never been caught.
DAVID OMBLER
The chilling case is believed to be Britain's oldest unsolved murder, dating back to May 1914.
Ombler, a market trader from Hull and the brother of a city councillor, was found with his head battered in on his kitchen floor after being attacked with a fire poker.
The only clues police had to go on were sightings of a man with a speckled muffler "prowling about" the scene of the crime on the morning in question.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368