Irish Public Urged To Help Identify Body Found On Scottish Beach In 2006
Disappearance
Friday 16th, September 2022
Cold case investigators in Scotland from the Scottish Cold Case Unit have launched an appeal to help identify the body of a woman washed ashore 16 years ago on the Scottish coast.
The woman's body was discovered on Wednesday the 22nd of November 2006 on a beach at Port Logan, Stranraer.
Initially checks were done to check the woman's body against the UK missing person reports with no success.
It's believed the woman was aged between 30 years old and 50 years old, was of a thin build and between 1.49m (4'11") and 1.62m (5'4") tall.
The woman was wearing a size 10 black Bay Trading trousers, a white BHS size 34c and tan coloured tights.
Investigators from the Scottish Cold Case Unit which is based at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the charity Locate International are behind the renewed appeal to try and identify the woman's body.
Investigators suspect the woman may have entered the water in the Dublin Bay area, this assumption is based on tidal flows, weather patterns at the time and the location of where the woman's body was found.
The woman's body is believed to have been in the water for up to six months, so it's thought the woman may have gone missing in the spring or summer of 2006.
Co-director of the Scottish Cold Case Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, Dr Maureen Taylor said the woman could have entered the water at Dublin six months before her body was found.
"We believe there is an Irish connection. As part of our investigation, we have sought the advice of people who have expertise around drift trajectories, tidal flows and the weather."
"The work that they have done points to this woman potentially entering the water around Dublin, probably around six months before she was found in November, so spring, summertime."
Dr Taylor said there is a DNA profile on record for this woman which has not matched with any other DNA profile on databases for missing women in the UK.
"It has been searched and so far there are no results and that goes for Ireland and the rest of the UK."
Dr Taylor also said the facial reconstruction photo may not necessarily be an exact depiction of the woman's face.
"We are appealing to people to have a look at this image and see if there is any resemblance."
"There will be things that we might not be quite so certain about, for example her hair and her hair colour and style, but if she has any resemblance to someone that people have once known and have lost contact with, then we are asking people to get in touch with us, so we can add that to our investigation."
Dr Taylor went on to say, "The team have been undertaking a number of enquiries around the clothing she was wearing, a geographical profile of the location she was found, sea and air incidents and missing women from the UK and Ireland."
"Although she was found in southwest Scotland, it may be that she had lived in, spent time in, or had travelled to or from Ireland."
"Is there a friend or relative that you haven't heard from or lost contact with who may have gone missing in the spring or summer of 2006? Is there someone who used to come to your place of work or leisure activities that you no longer see?"
"We hope the facial reconstruction jogs someone's memory and adds more pieces of the puzzle as to who she might be."
Anyone with information can email ColdCaseUnit@gcu.ac.uk or call 0044 141 331 3235.
The woman's body was discovered on Wednesday the 22nd of November 2006 on a beach at Port Logan, Stranraer.
Initially checks were done to check the woman's body against the UK missing person reports with no success.
It's believed the woman was aged between 30 years old and 50 years old, was of a thin build and between 1.49m (4'11") and 1.62m (5'4") tall.
The woman was wearing a size 10 black Bay Trading trousers, a white BHS size 34c and tan coloured tights.
Investigators from the Scottish Cold Case Unit which is based at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) and the charity Locate International are behind the renewed appeal to try and identify the woman's body.
Investigators suspect the woman may have entered the water in the Dublin Bay area, this assumption is based on tidal flows, weather patterns at the time and the location of where the woman's body was found.
The woman's body is believed to have been in the water for up to six months, so it's thought the woman may have gone missing in the spring or summer of 2006.
Co-director of the Scottish Cold Case Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University, Dr Maureen Taylor said the woman could have entered the water at Dublin six months before her body was found.
"We believe there is an Irish connection. As part of our investigation, we have sought the advice of people who have expertise around drift trajectories, tidal flows and the weather."
"The work that they have done points to this woman potentially entering the water around Dublin, probably around six months before she was found in November, so spring, summertime."
Dr Taylor said there is a DNA profile on record for this woman which has not matched with any other DNA profile on databases for missing women in the UK.
"It has been searched and so far there are no results and that goes for Ireland and the rest of the UK."
Dr Taylor also said the facial reconstruction photo may not necessarily be an exact depiction of the woman's face.
"We are appealing to people to have a look at this image and see if there is any resemblance."
"There will be things that we might not be quite so certain about, for example her hair and her hair colour and style, but if she has any resemblance to someone that people have once known and have lost contact with, then we are asking people to get in touch with us, so we can add that to our investigation."
Dr Taylor went on to say, "The team have been undertaking a number of enquiries around the clothing she was wearing, a geographical profile of the location she was found, sea and air incidents and missing women from the UK and Ireland."
"Although she was found in southwest Scotland, it may be that she had lived in, spent time in, or had travelled to or from Ireland."
"Is there a friend or relative that you haven't heard from or lost contact with who may have gone missing in the spring or summer of 2006? Is there someone who used to come to your place of work or leisure activities that you no longer see?"
"We hope the facial reconstruction jogs someone's memory and adds more pieces of the puzzle as to who she might be."
Anyone with information can email ColdCaseUnit@gcu.ac.uk or call 0044 141 331 3235.
