Police have begun a cold case review of the unsolved murder of a young prostitute whose battered body was found in a Shropshire lay-by 17 years ago today.On the anniversary of 22-year-old Janine Downes’ death, officers from West Mercia Police’s major crime review team are looking again at her murder file.
A force spokeswoman said detectives were reviewing the inquiry and looking at statements and evidence.
“It may include them speaking again to previous witnesses and also contacting other people who may not have been seen the first time round,” she said.
“The review will also take into account the advances in DNA procedures since the time of the murder.”
The identity of Janine’s killer has remained a mystery since her half-naked body was found on Saturday, February 2, 1991, just before 9.30am, concealed by a small hedge in a lay-by near Lambert’s Restaurant on the A464 Shifnal to Wolverhampton road.
Janine, from Wolverhampton, was just 5ft tall and weighed less than 8st. She had been strangled with a ligature and suffered extensive head wounds – caused by a jagged-edged weapon. She had also been sexually assaulted.
She was wearing only a paisley pattern blouse, a bra and blue ankle socks.
Her other clothes – white trainers, blue jeans, and a black shell-suit top with a yellow stripe bearing the words Nike International – have never been found.
Marks on the frosty ground indicated where Janine had been dragged and a pathologist estimated her body had been dumped there between midnight and 4am.
No motive has ever been established for her murder, although one theory was that Janine had information about the murder of another prostitute, 23-year-old Gail Whitehouse, the previous year.
There have been regular links with other prostitute killings across the country in recent years, but detectives remain convinced the key to the case lies within Wolverhampton’s once-notorious red light area.
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