Murder of Lindsay Jo Rimer

Lindsay Jo Rimer (17 February 1981—c.1995) was a British thirteen-year-old girl from Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, who was murdered. She was last seen alive in Hebden Bridge on 7 November 1994, and her body was found in a canal about a mile away on 12 April 1995. Despite repeated appeals for information by police, her murder remains unsolved.

Lindsay's life

Rimer lived with her parents, two sisters and her brother in the family home on Cambridge Street in Hebden Bridge. She was in Year 9 at Calder High School and was described as a "popular" pupil.[1]

Last sighting

Lindsay was last seen alive on the evening of 7 November 1994. At about 10pm, she left her home to buy a packet of cornflakes from the Spar Supermarket in Crown Street. On her way to the shop she briefly stopped by a local pub, the Trades Club in Holme Street, where her mother was having a drink with a friend. Her mother asked her if she wanted to stay and have a cola with them, but Lindsay said no and continued to the shop.[2] CCTV footage from the shop showed her paying for the cornflakes at 10:22pm. That remains the last known sighting of Lindsay alive. She failed to return home that night, and when she did not turn up for her paper round the following morning, the alarm was raised.[3]

Initial police investigation

Police initially suspected that Rimer may have run away.[3] There was local speculation that Rimer had been having trouble at home, although this was strenuously denied by her family.[2] Rimer's older sister Katie took part in a reconstruction of Rimer's walk to the shop and hundreds of local people joined the police in searches of the area around Hebden Bridge, but no trace of Rimer was found.[1]

Body found and post-mortem

Lindsay's weighted down body was found by two local canal workers in the Rochdale Canal, about a mile upstream of the centre of Hebden Bridge, on 12 April 1995.[3]

The post-mortem was carried out later that day at Royal Halifax Royal Infirmary by Home Office pathologist Professor Mike Green. He concluded that Rimer had probably been strangled. Her voicebox had been flattened against the spinal column and there were also signs of congestion across the middle of the neck muscles. There were no signs of a sexual assault.[4]

Continuing police investigation

In the years since the discovery of Rimer's body, the police have taken hundreds of witness statements and spoken to more than 5,000 people during their investigation. Detectives have looked into whether known criminals may have killed Rimer. John Taylor, the murderer of Bramley teenager Leanne Tiernan, and John Oswin have both been investigated, but no evidence has been found to link either to Rimer's murder.[3][5] Nobody has ever been charged over the murder.

In April 2016 it was revealed by West Yorkshire Police that a DNA profile had been obtained by a Canadian team of forensic specialist. The police were hopeful that it would lead to the identity of the killer.[6]

On 8 November 2016 a 63-year-old man from Bradford was arrested on suspicion of Rimer's murder. He was later released on police bail.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Lindsay Rimer: 10 Years On". Hebweb News. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 Rimer, Geri (4 November 2006). "I don't know what happened to my daughter". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "The Murder of Lindsay Rimer". Hebweb News. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  4. ↑ "Canal gives up its grim secret". Hebweb News. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Herbert, Ian (23 October 2002). "Murderer questioned about sex attacks". The Independent. London. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Lindsay Rimer death: New DNA leads in 1994 murder case". BBC News. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "Lindsay Rimer death: Man arrested over 1990s case bailed". BBC News. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
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