'Angel of the Meadows' revealed: Police reconstruct face of woman whose skeleton was found 40 years after she was murdered by sex killer
Last updated at 1:36 PM on 25th May 2011
This is the face of a young woman feared murdered by a sex killer up to 40 years ago - recreated by scientists in a bid to help police finally identify her.
The victim aged between 18 and 30 was stripped and killed before her corpse was wrapped in a carpet and dumped in an area known as 'Angel Meadows'.
She remained undiscovered until January 2010 when her skeleton was discovered by workmen helping construct the Co-operative Group's new £100m headquarters in the Collyhurst area of Manchester.
Tests revealed she suffered a fractured jaw, a fractured collar bone and fractures to two bones in her neck leading to fears she was beaten to a pulp.
Back from the dead: Scientists from The University Of Dundee have used the latest technology to recreate the face of the Angel Of The Meadows, a mystery woman whose body was found on a building site in Manchester
She was also naked from the waist down and a shoe is missing and is believed to have been taken as a 'trophy.'
Today Greater Manchester Police issued a picture of the woman now dubbed the 'Angel of the Meadows' after a professor in anthropology from the University of Dundee's Centre of Anatomy and Human Identification created a forensic facial reconstruction and image in a clay from a mould of the woman's skull.
Another specialist has carried out Carbon14 testing on her teeth and bones and concluded the victim was born sometime between 1950 and 1954. She is believed to have been killed in the 70s or 80s.
Mystery woman: Police are trying to identify the victim who scientists believe was born in the early 1950s and killed sometime in the 1970s of 1980s
Det Chief Insp Joanne Rawlinson, from the Major Incident Team, said: 'This woman was the victim of a violent physical and possible sexual assault and I am determined to find out who she is and who killed her.
'Now this is the first time we have been able to visualise what she looked like. I want the public to look closely at the image and facial reconstruction to see if you recognise or remember her.
'She was born in the early 50s and would have had a missing tooth that would have been noticeable when she smiled broadly.'
Sad end: The building site in the Collyhurst area of Manchestser where the woman's body was discovered by workers
She continued: 'It is vitally important we identify her to give some closure to her family, but also to help us investigate who killed her.
'If anyone can help with any part of the investigation, be it her identity or help with the clothing or other items found at the scene please get in touch.'
Hunt: A map showing the area where the 'Angel Of The Meadows' was found
The woman was between 5ft 1in and 5ft 8in tall when she was killed. She was a modern day size 12 and is most likely European but could have come from the Middle East or Indian sub-continents.
She had a number of fillings in her teeth and had a missing first upper right pre-molar, meaning it would have been visible when she smiled broadly.
A distinctive 1970s pinafore dress, blue bra and jumper and tights belonging to the woman were found with the remains.
A jacket and single shoe were also found at the site.
She was not wearing the dress or the tights, which forensic tests have confirmed belonged to her. The handbag was empty.
There were three different colours of carpet at the scene - orange, blue and dark blue. The blue carpet appeared to have been cut to fit a Ford Cortina, with holes for a gear-stick.
Some of the carpet was burnt, meaning there may have been a fire at the site.
During the inquiry, DNA from the victim has also been checked against samples recovered during the investigations into two notorious convicted killers - Ronald Castree and Peter Tobin.
Serial sex killer Tobin, 64 - now serving life for three murders - kept sick trophies after killing his victims.
Castree, a comic book dealer and taxi driver, 57, from Shaw, Oldham, was jailed for life in 2007 for the abduction, sexual assault and murder of 11-year-old Rochdale schoolgirl Lesley Molseed in 1975.
The recovered shoe was also checked against 140 recovered following the arrest of Yorkshire serial 'shoe fetish' rapist James Lloyd, 55, now serving 15 years after he kept a shoe from his victims as a 'trophy'.
Grisly: A police photo of the pinafore dress found near the body which it is hoped will help identify her
Police also checked their files on three murder inquiries where bodies have not been found and trawled through missing persons lists.
As a result detectives have been able to reunite six people with their family, eliminated 21 missing persons and located a further 46 woman.
Officers checked the national DNA database and while there was no match with the victim, officers are methodically working through 400 results that have provided the closest match.
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