Prisoner questioned over schoolgirl's 1994 murder

Lindsay Rimer was found dead five months after she went missing from home

A prisoner has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a 13-year-old girl who was found dead months after she went missing from her home in 1994.

Lindsay Rimer left her home in Hebden Bridge, near Halifax, on 7 November to buy cornflakes from a nearby shop but never returned. In April 1995, her body was found in the Rochdale Canal, about a mile from the town, weighted down with a stone.

West Yorkshire Police said a man was arrested on Monday at an unnamed UK prison where he was serving a sentence for other offences.

A force spokesperson said officers were "keeping Lindsay's family updated", adding that the arrest was "as a result of our continued focus on progressing the investigation".

The arrested man would be interviewed by police on Monday and Tuesday and was expected to be bailed and returned to prison while inquiries continued, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, officers were approaching "a number of specific potential witnesses, mainly in the Hebden Bridge and wider Halifax area", who had been identified by the investigation.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed that Monday's arrest was the first in the investigation into Lindsay's murder since 2017.

CCTV images show Lindsay buying cornflakes shortly before she disappeared

On the night Lindsay went missing in November 1994, she had left her home in Cambridge Street at about 22:00 GMT before calling in to see her mother at the Trades Club, a members club and music venue in Hebden Bridge.

She was captured on CCTV 20 minutes later as she bought cornflakes from the Spar shop on Crown Street.

• Lindsay Rimer: The girl who went to buy cornflakes and never came home

The last confirmed sighting of Lindsay was not long after this, as she was seen leaning against a wall near the Memorial Garden.

Her body was found by two canal workers the following spring.

The search for the schoolgirl was one of the largest carried out by West Yorkshire Police.

Lindsay's family has described not knowing what happened to her as "like living a life sentence".

Det Ch Insp James Entwistle said police remained committed to the investigation into Lindsay's murder

Confirming the new arrest, Det Ch Insp James Entwistle, senior investigating officer, said: "We remain very firmly committed to doing everything we can to get justice for Lindsay, and to give her family the answers they still so desperately need after all these years.

"While we appreciate the understandable public interest that today's arrest will bring, we do not anticipate any immediate developments at this stage."

Det Ch Insp Entwistle added: "Although it is now more than 30 years since Lindsay was murdered, we remain convinced there is someone out there who has vital information that could finally help to ease her family's pain.

"We urge them do the right thing and tell us what they know."

Anyone with information that could help the investigation was asked to contact West Yorkshire Police.

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