UK UK - Norfolk, Headless woman, 23-35, pink nightdress, Aug'74

[Rip1888]

Hi! I'm writing a blog on this case, and one thing that kept sticking in my head when I was researching it is the nearby military bases. I know that RAF Lakenheath still only has US personnel, even now, and it's about a 25 minute drive from the spot where she was found. How likely do you think it is that her murderer was stationed at that base and then went back to America after a their time at the base was up? And that they just knew that that road was secluded? The only thing is, I'm unsure if it would be possible for them to sneak visitors in to the base, especially overnight ones (which she likely was because of her nightgown). Sorry if anyone on this thread has talked about this, by the way! I did read through and I don't think I saw anyone go in depth

I live at Lakenheath and personally I think anyone looking for a lady if the night from the base would have probably going to Bury St Edmunds

This article has a bit of info on Mary, and also mentions 2 other missing women, one was 28 year old Linda Angus, who visited Lakenheath frequently.
Scots link in DNA bid to solve headless body mystery - 35 years on

 

[Rip1888]

I was fascinated with the nightie. If indeed she was wearing this when murdered I would imagine she was not out at work, so not a person who had picked her up, but at home or someone else's home planning to be there the night or had been killed during the night or morning Who was known to break in to homes to attack and murder, if it was someone already mentioned. Or could it have been a partner or husband? And if she was in the Lakenheath area was she staying near the base and taken up to the Swaffham area, rather than being brought down fro the coast.

 

[Rip1888]

As this case is back on police radar at present, I thought it would be useful to give some background to facilitate any future discussions here and to give a context to any future developments. Although I did not live in Norfolk at the time this body was found, I lived in Norwich (Norfolk's county town and administrative centre) from the mid 1980s for most of the following decade, and 1980s Norfolk was virtually unchanged from 1970s Norfolk.

A glance at Google maps reveals one very obvious fact: Norfolk sticks out of the eastern side of England and is bounded on two sides, the north and east, by the North Sea. In terms of UK geography, therefore, it is a region one deliberately goes to, not through on the way to somewhere else. Furthermore, it is bounded on the west by The Fens, a low lying area of meandering rivers and meres which was waterlogged until the late 17[SUP]th[/SUP] century when Dutch engineers were brought in to drain the marshes. (Today it is a major area for sugar beet, potato and vegetable growing.) So until 300 or 350 years ago Norfolk was virtually cut off on a third side as well. Historically, therefore, trade and transport were largely done by water (river or coastal). In short, it is geographically isolated and until recently its native population was insular and suspicious of “incomers”. We “incomers” had a joke amongst ourselves: “Happisburgh, Norfolk. Twinned with Innsmouth, Massachusetts.” It was that sort of place.

At the time of this murder there were three main groups of “incomers” in the county:

1. Tourists Norfolk has had a tourist industry since the late 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century Originally this was focussed on traditional seaside resorts such as Sheringham and Great Yarmouth and later supplemented by holiday parks such as Butlins and Pontins and boating holidays on the Norfolk Broads (flooded mediaeval peat diggings).
2. Students The University of East Anglia (UEA) was established in Norwich in the mid 1960s. It's a standard concrete-and-glass 1960s university and was the first in the UK to offer Bachelors degrees in Environmental Science. There is also a well-regarded art college in the city.
3. Military personnel The RAF has had many bases in the area which were originally established during WWII. Today some of these are leased to the USAF, eg Lakenheath.

There were also two smaller groups of outsiders in the area:

1. Gypsies and travellers who provided seasonal and itinerant labour for farms across Norfolk and The Fens. These groups have traditionally been suspicious of, indeed hostile to, outsiders, especially the authorities. They therefore tend to sort out internal disputes or issues themselves, often violently.
2. New Age and hippy types Because of its isolation, there were many large, country properties in Norfolk which could at that time be bought or leased very cheaply and a number large houses and small estates became communes, healing centres and similar. WWOOF had also been founded in the UK in 1971, giving volunteers a chance to live and work on small organic farms in return for board and lodging. Volunteers tended to move around, following agricultural need and chasing different experiences. By definition, these communities tended to be idealistic, perhaps naïve, drifters who usually hitchhiked and were therefore vulnerable.

I said earlier that one goes to rather than through Norfolk. Great Yarmouth has long been the county's main port but it has never had a ferry service to the continent. Freight came into the port and was unloaded there onto lorries to be hauled eastwards towards the Midlands, so there has never been a flow-through of road traffic to and from the continent. The nearest RORO and passenger ferry to the continent was and is at Felixstowe, near Ipswich.

There were three main roads in and out of the county.

1. The A12 runs south from Great Yarmouth to Ipswich (Suffolk), Colchester and Chelmsford (Essex) before ending in London.
2. The A11 runs south west to Cambridge, Newmarket (horse racing centre). Until the late 1980s this was single carriageway as far as the Newmarket Bypass. Dualling was completely by the early 1990s. It now joins the M11 and ends in London.
3. The A47 runs west from Great Yarmouth, round Norwich, past Kings Lynn, across the Fens to Peterborough and Leicester before joining the M1 with access to all regions of the UK. The Norfolk section of this road was mostly single carriageway in the 1970s and 1980s but has been completely dualled since then. The A47 runs north of Swaffham, about 5 miles from where the body was found.

I'm going to try to pull together my thoughts about the body and how what has been made public about it might or might not link to the information above, and will post them separately.

I found this podcast on Spotify which gives a really good description of where she was found. It is only a very short drive from where I live so decided to go and see what the road and area looks like. I want to see if a lorry could access the area. It is also very close to a RAF shooting range. Was the head put in the bride's pond near the body?

 

[Rip1888]

Spent today looking at some of the info on various news reports. Students help Cockley Cley cold case detectives probe Scottish links to headless body mystery

Did NCR have employees traveling to East Anglia or relocated to Norfolk? Now wondering if NCR employee moved down with their family.

 

[Rip1888]

Hi! I'm writing a blog on this case, and one thing that kept sticking in my head when I was researching it is the nearby military bases. I know that RAF Lakenheath still only has US personnel, even now, and it's about a 25 minute drive from the spot where she was found. How likely do you think it is that her murderer was stationed at that base and then went back to America after a their time at the base was up? And that they just knew that that road was secluded? The only thing is, I'm unsure if it would be possible for them to sneak visitors in to the base, especially overnight ones (which she likely was because of her nightgown). Sorry if anyone on this thread has talked about this, by the way! I did read through and I don't think I saw anyone go in depth

Hi! I'm writing a blog on this case, and one thing that kept sticking in my head when I was researching it is the nearby military bases. I know that RAF Lakenheath still only has US personnel, even now, and it's about a 25 minute drive from the spot where she was found. How likely do you think it is that her murderer was stationed at that base and then went back to America after a their time at the base was up? And that they just knew that that road was secluded? The only thing is, I'm unsure if it would be possible for them to sneak visitors in to the base, especially overnight ones (which she likely was because of her nightgown). Sorry if anyone on this thread has talked about this, by the way! I did read through and I don't think I saw anyone go in depth

Students help Cockley Cley cold case detectives probe Scottish links to headless body mystery. How do I message you?

 

[dotr]

Just a thought, wondering if DNA has been compared with this missing woman?

UK - UK - Isabella (Isabel/Izzy) Skelton, 35, Manchester, (may be in US), 6 June 1969

It’s a big jump from “police believe Izzy is still alive, here are pictures of what she could look like now” in October 2020 to “specialist teams are searching Izzy’s house” six months later. I wonder what information they’ve found in that time.

www.websleuths.com

 

[dotr]

Sep 7, '24

Inside the 50 year-old cold case mystery of headless woman found wrapped in plastic

On 27 August 1974 the body of an unidentified woman wearing a Marks & Spencer nightdress was discovered on farmland near Cockley Cley, Swaffham, but the killer has never been found. Barney Davis looks at the theories

www.independent.co.uk

"It is a gruesome mystery that has remained unsolved for half a century. In 1974, a woman’s body was found decapitated on Norfolk farmland, wrapped in plastic and wearing only a Marks & Spencer nighty.

The victim has never been identified and the killer has never been found. On the 50th anniversary of the grim discovery, a cold case detective has shared his theories about what may have happened.

Found in the undergrowth at a lover’s lane opposite RAF Marham’s shooting range, the woman’s hands and legs were bound to her body. She was wrapped in a sheet embossed with “National Cash Registers”, a brand of till.''

''An expert told police the composition of the rare four-strand rope she was bound with “suggests it was made for use with agricultural machinery”.

Police traced the place of manufacture of the rope to Dundee in Scotland but the firms that made that type of rope had ceased trading.''

“The offender would probably be aged at least 75 now and may be dead. But the savagery displayed by decapitation makes me concerned as to what else the offender may have done during their lifetime, and is another reason why we continue to pursue this case.''