Sutton Bank body
North Yorkshire Police have confirmed that the forensic analysis on the samples taken from the body of a woman known as the “Sutton Bank body” has produced a full composite DNA profile.
So far, there are fifteen cases where relatives or friends have contacted the force who believe that the deceased may be either a relative or a friend. Officers are appealing for anyone else who believes they may be related to her to contact the investigation team as soon as possible.
The DNA profile will now be compared with existing records and will be checked against the people who have come forward to identify any family link with the dead woman.
*Background *
The woman’s remains were found by the side of a remote country road between the Sutton Bank Road (A170) and the village of Scawton on 28 August 1981.
North Yorkshire Police had received an anonymous call tipping them off about the body on 28 August 1981. To this day, the identity of the caller is still unknown as is the identity of the dead woman.
The discovery of the woman’s remains sparked an 18-month investigation, led by Detective Chief Superintendent Strickland Carter, who needed to establish who she was and what she was doing there.
A forensic examination of the body was inconclusive as was the post mortem, which failed to establish a cause of death.
No jewellery or personal belongings were found on or nearby the body which could help to identify her and a Home Office pathologist estimated that she may have lain in the undergrowth for up to two years due to the state of the body and the level of plant growth around her.
During the enquiry, extensive investigations were conducted and a number of people were put forward as the deceased, however it was not possible to identify a positive match.
At the time of the initial investigation, a three-dimensional wax reconstruction of the woman’s head was produced. It was the first of its kind and demonstrated that police were keen to use new technology to get to the bottom of the mystery which faced them.
The dead woman is described as:
5ft 2in in height and aged over 35 years
All her upper teeth were missing, she had an upper dental plate fitted and she had just six lower teeth
She had short dark hair
The post mortem showed she had given birth to two or three children
She also had a displaced septum between her nostrils
Her toenails were painted pink – the varnish coming from the Max Factor Maxi range
She also had an abnormality to her neck vertebrae which would have caused back-ache
She had an old fracture to her ankle