[P]olice are asking people with links to South East Asian countries to help identify a woman whose body was found on the Pennine Way in 2004 – by using Facebook to trace her friends or relatives.
The woman’s body was found by walkers on the popular Pennine Way near Pen-y-ghent in North Yorkshire. Despite extensive international enquiries, she has not yet been identified.
Fourteen years on from her death, officers are urging the South East Asian community to help share a new social media appeal across the north of England and abroad to identify her.
In 2004 the woman had been in the UK for at least two years, and most probably lived in the Lancashire, Cumbria or western Dales area. She could have originally been from countries including the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
She will last have been in contact with friends or family members in 2004, and people may well have been told that she had ‘gone back home’ around that time.
When she died, she was probably aged between 25 and 35 years old and had black hair, cut above the shoulder. She was quite short – about 4ft 11ins (1.5 metres) tall.
She had a wedding ring, and is believed to have had children or been pregnant in the past.
She had lived in the Lancs, Cumbria, West Dales area for at least two years, and probably longer. She is known to have shopped at Marks and Spencer. She was in size 12 clothing at the time of her death, but may have been slimmer in previous years.
North Yorkshire Police have set up a community group on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/groups/nypccru, and are urging people with links to South East Asia to join and help share the fresh appeal with their friends both in the UK and abroad. The page has messages in English, Filipino, and Thai.
Adam Harland, of North Yorkshire Police’s Cold Case Review Unit, said: “It has been 14 years since this woman’s body was found in the Yorkshire Dales, and despite extensive enquiries in this country and abroad she has not been identified.
“It’s possible that she was last in contact with others in 2004, and people in the UK may well have been told that she had ‘gone back home’ around that time.
“That’s why we’re particularly asking people with links to the South East Asian community to get involved, by sharing our appeal with their friends and relatives. We’ve set up a community group on Facebook to allow them to do just that, so please join if you think you can help.”
