Unidentified woman killed 45 years ago linked to Yorkshire Ripper | UK | News
A police search linked to Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe (Image:-)
A woman whose unidentified body was found 45 years ago may be one of the Yorkshire Ripper’s latest victims, according to the daughter of the farm where the body was found.
The victim’s skeletal remains were found behind a low wall known in the Nettles case as in the Nude case, and the yogurt container lid found underneath was later tested, revealing that the woman had died in 1979.
A person who called 999 in August 1981 and reported the location of the body was the prime suspect in the murder of the woman, initially believed to be a sex worker.
But Jane Good, whose father Matt Dixon owns the land where the victim was found, spoke out about the incident for the first time, saying the man who called the police was an innocent caravan owner.
The caller to Ripon Police Station in North Yorkshire was on the phone less than a minute later on August 28, 1981, to report the gruesome discovery.
When asked for his name, he strangely said that he could not give it due to “national security” reasons and hung up the phone.
Created images of unidentified victim in Nude in Nettles case (Image:-)
The body was later found at the end of the driveway leading to Scawton Moor House, behind a collapsed, moss-covered wall, halfway down Sutton Bank on the North York Moors, close to farmer Matt Dixon’s land.
This wasn’t helped either by the strange statement the 999 caller made when reporting his body, as serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was behind bars at the time and was arrested in January 1981.
But Jane, 67, claims police told her at the time that the caravan owner was not involved in the Nettles Naked case and had only found the body.
This, he says, paved the way for Sutcliffe to carry it out and leave his victim to rot.
Jane said; “If the 999 caller is just a passing caravan it is time for the Yorkshire Ripper connection to be properly investigated.”
The North Yorkshire Enquirer reported the case at the time, naming the victim as Hope, noting that she was killed while Sutcliffe was still at large.
Chris Clark, who researched the incident for the website, said: “There was woods on both sides of the road, a place where people stopped for picnics; it was also a lovers’ lane.
“For a lorry driver traveling north from Shipley in West Yorkshire to Sunderland Docks or Scarborough, it is an easy 50-mile journey to reach Sutton Bank.
“This would be a regular route for Sutcliffe with lorry stops at the A1 Services Boroughbridge and A168 Thirsk in North Yorkshire, where prostitutes were plentiful in the late 1970s and sold their wares in lorry parks.”
Photograph of British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe (1946-), nicknamed the “Yorkshire Matador” (Image: Universal Images Group via Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
From time to time, a tall, dark-haired man with a neatly trimmed beard and moustache and a strong Yorkshire accent would come into the cafe in Scarborough, have a bite to eat and chat with the owner.
Those who have seen him think he might be Sutcliffe. He told the cafe owner that he was a wagon driver, and since there were many small engineering firms and other commercial businesses in the area at the time, it made perfect sense for him to come to the cafe because he could park and walk to the cafe.
Opposite the cafe was a shelter where people gathered to drink, including a woman who might have been a victim.
Jane, 67, who was 23 at the time, believes the caller was a local caravan who had just found the body.
The caravan was seen by other citizens who parked there for the night. The next day the alarm was raised and the caravan disappeared.
He said: “The call to the police was from a man in a caravan and had run away into the woods for a while.
“He found the body. Logically, he didn’t want to get involved. It’s been too long now. But he was never a suspect. That’s what I was told.”
“He was a guy who happened to trip over a body but thought, ‘I’d better report this but I don’t want to be held here next week.’
“So he started walking with his trailer. The day it happened, the man who reported it said he found it in a clump of rose willows.”
A spokesman for North Yorkshire Police said: “DNA work did not help identify the remains at Sutton Bank.
“Unfortunately, his identity is unknown. We are interested in any suggestions regarding the identity of the deceased.”
