Very lengthy article, rbbm.
November 2022 by Sean Axtell
www.kentonline.co.uk
'In October 1979 a woman's body was found in a forest in Kent and although her death sparked a murder hunt, no-one ever came forward to say who she was.
Reporter Sean Axtell looks back at the case which also never saw anyone convicted of killing the un-named woman who was aged between 30 and 35.'
''She was found with devastating head wounds in woodlands - she had been suffering an agonising ectopic pregnancy at the time of her death.
It was 1979 when a horse rider discovered her remains under bracken, years before DNA profiling was introduced to the UK.''
Standing 5ft 1in, slight and aged little over 30, she would become known as the Bedgebury Forest Woman, in one of Kent’s most puzzling criminal cases.''
''Her injuries, particularly around the neck and face, made her almost impossible to identify until huge scientific advancements were rolled out years later.''
She did however have brown eyes, naturally straight dark hair and was dressed in black shoes, a black polo jumper and yellow blouse underneath the dress, which had been modified to fit her small frame.
No easily identifying features, like a handbag, were discovered with her body, which was believed to have been in the thicket for around six days.
And laying just feet from her remains was the suspected murder weapon - a blood stained wooden stake.''
''An autopsy revealed her teeth, though badly decayed, placed her around 30-years-old.
And her lungs, clear from signs of smoking or pollution, suggested she lived in a rural area.''
''Stretch marks on the woman’s stomach indicated she could very well have a child alive in the world.
But perhaps the most sorrowful discovery of all was that she was suffering an ectopic pregnancy, having likely conceived six weeks before her death, causing substantial pain and bleeding.
It is a severe condition when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb, usually inside a fallopian tube which, after six or so weeks, can rupture causing severe internal bleeding.''
''But it appeared the woman lived on society’s peripheries, a transient, likely a sex worker, who would hitch along the M1 and M6 between London and the north of England.''
''Crimewatch
Five years after her body was discovered, DCI Peter Spitals went on Crimewatch to say the Medway College of Design identified her dress as homemade from furniture fabric.
He described the garment as being “altered on at least two occasions” and the woman likely living “a very poor existence.”
He urged the dressmaker to come forward before re-publishing an artist’s impression of the woman’s face.
Jill Dando in February 1999, just two months before she was gunned down on her doorstep in London, helped to renew the appeal.
The presenter revealed how the dressmaker contacted Crimewatch following the 1984 appeal.
But the viewer, from Stratford-upon-Avon, “had given it to a charity shop in Evesham in Worcestershire,” leading to a dead-end in the inquiry.'
November 2022 by Sean Axtell
The unsolved murder of sex worker found in forest
More than 40 years ago a woman's body was found in a forest and although her death sparked a murder hunt, no-one ever came forward to say who she was.
'In October 1979 a woman's body was found in a forest in Kent and although her death sparked a murder hunt, no-one ever came forward to say who she was.
Reporter Sean Axtell looks back at the case which also never saw anyone convicted of killing the un-named woman who was aged between 30 and 35.'
''She was found with devastating head wounds in woodlands - she had been suffering an agonising ectopic pregnancy at the time of her death.
It was 1979 when a horse rider discovered her remains under bracken, years before DNA profiling was introduced to the UK.''
Standing 5ft 1in, slight and aged little over 30, she would become known as the Bedgebury Forest Woman, in one of Kent’s most puzzling criminal cases.''
''Her injuries, particularly around the neck and face, made her almost impossible to identify until huge scientific advancements were rolled out years later.''
She did however have brown eyes, naturally straight dark hair and was dressed in black shoes, a black polo jumper and yellow blouse underneath the dress, which had been modified to fit her small frame.
No easily identifying features, like a handbag, were discovered with her body, which was believed to have been in the thicket for around six days.
And laying just feet from her remains was the suspected murder weapon - a blood stained wooden stake.''
''An autopsy revealed her teeth, though badly decayed, placed her around 30-years-old.
And her lungs, clear from signs of smoking or pollution, suggested she lived in a rural area.''
''Stretch marks on the woman’s stomach indicated she could very well have a child alive in the world.
But perhaps the most sorrowful discovery of all was that she was suffering an ectopic pregnancy, having likely conceived six weeks before her death, causing substantial pain and bleeding.
It is a severe condition when a fertilised egg implants itself outside the womb, usually inside a fallopian tube which, after six or so weeks, can rupture causing severe internal bleeding.''
''But it appeared the woman lived on society’s peripheries, a transient, likely a sex worker, who would hitch along the M1 and M6 between London and the north of England.''
''Crimewatch
Five years after her body was discovered, DCI Peter Spitals went on Crimewatch to say the Medway College of Design identified her dress as homemade from furniture fabric.
He described the garment as being “altered on at least two occasions” and the woman likely living “a very poor existence.”
He urged the dressmaker to come forward before re-publishing an artist’s impression of the woman’s face.
Jill Dando in February 1999, just two months before she was gunned down on her doorstep in London, helped to renew the appeal.
The presenter revealed how the dressmaker contacted Crimewatch following the 1984 appeal.
But the viewer, from Stratford-upon-Avon, “had given it to a charity shop in Evesham in Worcestershire,” leading to a dead-end in the inquiry.'
