The cold case of the woman’s body found in the Yorkshire Dales is reviewed in hopes to find her identity…
NORTH YORKSHIRE POLICE
On 20th September 2004, a woman’s body was found by walkers. They were following Pennie way near Pen-Y-Ghent in North Yorkshire.
Her body was found in a stream which enters a pothole, she was a mile (2km) from the nearest road. She was found only wearing jeans and socks; a post mortem could not establish the cause of her death but did show she had been dead for one to three weeks. There was no sign of a violent death, but it is possible that she was suffocated. It is believed her death could have taken place between 31st August and 13th September 2004.
Fourteen years on the woman has still not been identified. She is believed to be aged between 25 and 35 years old; her hair was black, cut just above the shoulders. The lady was quite short in height, 4ft 11in to be exact. She was wearing a wedding ring and is believed to have children. In that case, her family in the UK may have been told she has moved back to her home country, they may have been told this around August/September 2004. It is believed that she lived in either Lancashire, Cumbria or West Dales area. She may be originally from Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
The lady may be a Thai Bride which means she is in a relationship with a white gentleman and came back to the UK to live with him.
The police have now turned to social media to try find the identity of the women. North Yorkshire Police have set up a community group on Facebook, click here to go to the group. They 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.
If you have information that could assist the investigation, please call 01609 643643 (from the UK), or +44 1904 618691, select option 2, and ask for Cold Case Review Team (from outside the UK).
There are many theories of this case. Here are a few.
The first theory is that she was killed at her home address and the person drove to the area in a vehicle (possibility a 4×4) and dumped. This is a more than likely theory as it fits in with belief that her family (children) were told that she had left the country to go back to her home country for a new life.
Alternatively, she could have been killed at the scene when out for a walk with an individual and was left to be found by a walker.
The last theory is one that cannot be ruled out. This theory is that she was simple out for a walk when she decided to take a rest near the pot hole and was washed downstream. The woman may also have fallen ill on the walk as well but if this did happen she would have had family out there looking for her.
