UK UK - Tracey Mertens, 31, Birmingham, 23 Dec 1994

[mrC]

what were they liing on for the 5 weeks they dident have the benfit book if they wanted money they hadd lefft a bit a late i doubt they would off been able till after christmass

 

[dotr]

Alex Croft 23 December 2024

Victim of unsolved murder bravely gave key information before death

Tracey Mertens was doused in petrol and set alight in Eaton churchyard near Congleton on 23 December 1994

www.independent.co.uk

Cheshire Police handout of a Yellow Ford Escort car, similar to one Tracey Mertens was bundled into (PA)
''Three decades on from the unsolved murder of a mother who was attacked in a churchyard, detectives have renewed their push to find her killer or killers.

Tracey Mertens was doused in petrol and set alight in Eaton churchyard near Congleton, in Cheshire, on 23 December 1994. She was 31-years-old.

Despite having burns to around 95 per cent of her body, Mertens held on to life for 12 hours and was able to tell detectives as much as she could before she died.''

 

[dotr]

• 24 Dec 2024
• Torched at Xmas - mum's murder remains unsolved 30yrs on despite her last words
• 

• ''Tracey's dying clues​

  Despite her horrific injuries, she clung to life for another 12 hours as she used her final breaths to help police.
  
  Tracey revealed the men asked "where's Joey" before she was snatched from her front door.
  
  The mum also described her killers as two black men with Birmingham accents who also spoke Jamaican Patois.
  
  Police launched a huge murder probe but the two men remain at large.
  
  Tracey's devastated family are now facing their 30th Christmas without the beloved mum.''

 

[sportstergirl]

Tracing the car should have been done at the time. It appears to be a Ford Escort Mk2 in Daytona Yellow. They were last made in 1980 & there can't have been many left in 1994.

 

[mrC]

why did she go and not her boyfriend or why didn't he go with her and what were they thing on for the 3 weeks they didn't have the book to me it doesnt ring true that she went back get the book she went back to get something else

 

[mrC]

i dont belie somone whose only income was benefits would forget there benefit book and if they did they wouldent wait that long before going back for it but if they really didn't feel safe going back for it they could report it missing and get a new one all be it with a fair bit of hassle