Rita Ellis murder: New DNA in 1967 RAF base cold case
- Published
Rita Ellis was an aircraftswoman stationed at RAF Halton
The hunt for a teenager's killer 50 years after her death is continuing after fresh DNA evidence failed to find a suspect.
Rita Ellis, 19, was sexually assaulted and strangled at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire, in November 1967. Her body was discovered in nearby woodland.
A new DNA profile enabled police to eliminate almost 200 male suspects, but did not match any national databases.
Her family has made a fresh appeal for information.
A number of arrests were made during the initial investigation but no charges have ever been brought.
Police reopened the inquiry 10 years ago, external to make use of modern forensic techniques.
Read more Beds, Herts and Bucks stories
Miss Ellis's body was discovered in Rowborough Copse near the RAF camp on 12 November by a dog walker. She was last seen alive the previous night.
Efforts had been made to hide her remains under leaves and foliage.
The teenager's handbag and belongings were found near her body in Rowborough Copse in 1967
Peter Beirne, head of the Thames Valley Police Major Crime Review Team, said Miss Ellis's family had "waited too long for justice".
"Thanks to re-examination of evidence found at the scene we have now obtained a full DNA profile of the offender and almost 200 potential suspects have been ruled out," he said.
"I believe the offender would have been a young man, possibly aged in his teens to mid-twenties, so it is likely he will now be aged in his sixties to eighties."
The teenage aircraftswoman's death was widely reported at the time
Miss Ellis's sister Tina Streeter, who was 10 years old at the time of the murder, said: "She was very much into her pop music, posters everywhere on the walls.
"Just this kind, caring, lovely person.
"It's just through a freak incident - an opportunist - some evil, sick person who just couldn't contain themselves, I don't know their motive."
She said her parents, who have since died, always had hope that their daughter's killer would be caught.