mystery woman dubbed the 'Angel of the Meadows' who was murdered 35 years ago Detectives believe she may be from Tanzania after speaking to family

 

These are the chilling mementoes of a young woman whose remains were found buried under a Manchester building site more than 30 years after she was killed.

The disturbing photographs of the victim's tattered possessions came to light as detectives investigating the puzzling ‘Angel of the Meadows’ case revealed the victim could be from East Africa.

An inquest into the death of the unknown woman heard today how scraps of her clothing and a handbag were found with her body in a building site in the Angel Meadows area of Manchester.

A patterned pinafore dress, fragments of underwear and one broken black high-heeled are among the remnants of the mystery woman whom police believe was born in the early 1950s.

She was stripped, sexually assaulted and killed more than 30 years ago.

Police have been working to identify her since she was found in 2010 by workmen building a new £100m headquarters for the Co-operative Group headquarters in Manchester's Miller Street.

Yesterday Detective Chief Inspector Joanne Rawlinson, of Greater Manchester Police, said they had 'good reason to believe' that the woman may be from Tanzania, after they were contacted by a family there.

Police working on identifying the woman had narrowed the search down to 22 possibilities after speaking to families from around the world.

They visited families in Texas, Holland, Ireland and elsewhere.

An inquest into the woman’s death heard that the woman was killed between 1975 and 1988, according to forensic tests.

DCI Rawlinson told Manchester's Coroner's Court that the search was becoming more complex.

She said: 'Some of these families who have contacted us are from foreign countries and we’ve also made numerous trips to Ireland.

'One family contacted us from Tanzania and we have good reason to believe that this may be the right woman.

'However, we are having trouble obtaining DNA samples from the authorities over there and these issues can be problematic.'

 

  Tragic remnants: these scraps of underwear, left, and a black shoe, right, were found with the victim's remains

 

Forensic tests had suggested that the victim, who was estimated to be between 5ft 1in and 5ft 7in tall, was Caucasian.

It is understood the Tanzanian family are not originally from the East African country.

A distinctive 1970s blue pinafore dress, blue bra, jumper and tights were discovered at the scene, along with a jacket and a single shoe.  She was not wearing the dress or tights and the handbag was empty.

The victim had been wrapped in carpet before being buried, and three different colours of carpet were found at the site: orange, blue and dark blue.  The blue carpet appeared to have been cut to fit a Ford Cortina, with a hole for the gearstick.

A post-mortem concluded she had suffered a fractured jaw, neck, collarbone and nose shortly before her death.  Detectives believe she may have been sexually assaulted.

Recording a verdict of unlawful killing, Manchester deputy coroner Graham Jackson said: 'I do hope Greater Manchester Police are able to continue with their investigation and that the person who inflicted these terrible injuries is brought to justice.'