Shafilea Ahmed: Police receive promising leads after Crimewatch appeal

Feb 21 2008 Liverpool Daily Post

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POLICE investigating the murder of Warrington teenager Shafilea Ahmed girl have received promising leads after taking their inquiries to BBC Crimewatch.

The 17-year-old schoolgirl went missing in September 2003 sparking a massive police campaign to get her back safely.

But on February 4, 2004, three workmen discovered the skeletal remains of a young body on the banks of the River Kent near Sedgwick in the Lake District.

Extensive DNA testing and dental records were used to identify the body as Shafilea.

She had last been seen five months earlier on the evening of September 11 as she left her part-time job at a local call centre. Her body had been dumped more than 90 miles from her home.

Shafilea’s body was so decomposed it has made it difficult for police to be sure what happened to her, but extensive analysis of the site and her remains have given them some insight into how she was murdered.

A reconstruction of her last moments has elicited a number of calls both to the BBC in London where investigating officers manned phone lines and to police in Cheshire.

Police have not confirmed whether these calls have been about a white van which was seen parked in the lay-by near to where her body was found in Cumbria. It was left in the lay-by around the time Shafilea disappeared and the force is anxious to trace anyone who might have seen it or anyone acting suspiciously in the area at this time.

Cheshire Police spokesman Jacqui Hanson, said: "Following the television appeal there was a promising number of calls from members of the public. The information has now been passed to the murder team and it will be followed up over the next couple of days."

Previous investigations saw eight family members arrested and given bail in August 2005 on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. The arrests did not include the teenager’s parents.