Ditch body identified after call to police
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.POLICE believe they have identified a woman whose battered body was found in a Lincolnshire ditch, naked and wrapped in a duvet.
The breakthrough in the inquiry came when a man called the murder incident room after seeing a computer-enhanced picture of the woman in a national newspaper.
The body was discovered near Coleby on 6 July. Detectives are contacting her dentist to check her records and will trace her relatives before they name her. Police are withholding details about the man who telephoned them until a positive identification has been made and the family informed.
Describing her killer as 'callous and calculating', Detective Superintendent George Pattinson, leading the murder inquiry, said yesterday that if their suspicions about the identity were correct it would be a major breakthrough. A post-mortem examination had shown that she died as a result of a severe beating and would have taken a considerable time to die.
'She was either still unconscious or dying when the killer dumped her body in the ditch at Coleby,' he said.
Police needed to know who she was before deciding if her death was linked with the murders of two prostitutes found stripped and dumped in remote ditches in the region.
Previously, they said a woman fitting the unknown woman's description was seen being followed by a man in Lincoln three days before her body was found in Coleby, seven miles south of the city.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments