Melanie Hall murder - a timeline

It's twenty years to the day since Melanie Hall went missing but the questions of what happened to her are still unanswered.

Police now say they are closer than ever to catching her killer thanks to a breakthrough in DNA evidence - a development has brought an historic case back into the public eye.

Here we take a look back at that night in June 1996 and the years since:

Saturday 8th June 1996: 25-year-old Melanie Hall went out with a group of friends to Cadillac's nightclub in Bath. She had been spending the weekend with a boyfriend she worked with as a hospital clerk.

The group were split up in the club and Melanie found herself sitting alone on the dance-floor. She was last seen there at 1:10am.

June-July 1996: A huge police investigation was launched. Cadillac's nightclub and the surrounding area were searched and Melanie's family held a press conference.

A £10,000 reward was offered for information and thousands of clubbers and taxi drivers were interviewed. The case then appeared to go cold.

17 November 2004: Eight years after her disappearance Melanie is declared legally dead.

5 October 2009: Melanie's remains were found dumped in a plastic bin-bag on the side of the M5 motorway at Junction 14 in Gloucestershire.

She had incurred severe blunt trauma to her head during her ordeal, resulting in a fractured skull, cheekbone and jaw.

Since June 8th 1996: In the two decades since Melanie died there have been nine arrests, 1700 calls from the public about the case and 1600 statements taken but no-one has ever been charged.

Melanie's clothing has never been recovered and who she left the club with has never become clear.

It has been twenty years of pain for Melanie Hall's family. But they believe someone is still hiding a dark secret.