Kate Bushell murder investigation stays open until mystery killer is found
Police remain convinced that somebody knows, or suspects, who murdered Exeter[1] schoolgirl Kate Bushell – more than 26 years after the killing. Officers have thanked the public for information given to them during recent anniversary appeals. The case is still unsolved but detectives have vowed to consider any new leads and say the investigation is still open.
This year marks another Christmas[2] when the killer of 14-year-old Kate remains unknown. In 2022, police launched a fresh appeal to coincide with a quarter of a century passing since her brutal killing in a field in Exwick. They vowed never to give up on finding her killer and received 40 pieces of new information.
Then in October of this year detectives working on another unsolved murder case – Lyn Bryant in Cornwall – said they had shared information with the team investigating Kate’s death. The two murders have never officially been linked but share a number of surface similarities. Try DevonLive Premium for free with no intrusive ads and brilliant new features[3]
Devon and Cornwall Police has now provided an update on the status of Kate’s murder investigation. A spokesperson said: “The investigation into the murder of Kate Bushell remains open and any information received will be assessed and investigated accordingly. “We continue to work on any intelligence that is reported to us and we are thankful for the information provided to us as a result of the anniversary appeals.
We remain convinced that somebody knows or suspects who is responsible for Kate’s death.” Police are still searching for the breakthrough they need. They have long believed that somebody – probably a local person – has vital information.
Analytical staff have studied all the potential leads for connections to Kate’s death but have still not identified a case-breaking factor. Kate was killed in a savage knife attack on Saturday, November 15, 1997 as she walked a neighbour’s dog in a cut-through path not far from her home. Witnesses reported the sighting of a blue vehicle parked in a layby with a man stood close by.
Another lead was a man running in the Farm Hill/Cornflower Hill area of Exwick that evening. These lines of enquiry remain key to the investigation along with tracing the source of orange fibres found at the scene.
The Kate Bushell murder scene in Exeter
Lyn Bryant was killed in a stabbing attack in a field in the Roseland Peninsula in 1998. Detectives working on that case used technological advances to allow them to obtain a partial DNA profile in their probe.
Information about that has been shared with the team working on the murder of Kate. More than 160 detectives and staff were initially deployed to investigate the murder of Kate[4], with more than 5,000 house-to-house interviews conducted and over 5,000 DNA samples taken from individuals in the Exwick and Exeter area. Detectives believe they have enough DNA to match any that comes up on its National DNA Database.
They continue to closely work with other forces to look into any similarities between Kate’s murder and others elsewhere. The murder of Kate Bushell is one of the longest unsolved cases in Devon and Cornwall Police history. Officers who worked on the initial investigation and have since retired have spoken of a sense of unfinished business[5] in finding her killer.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact police via: Public Portal (mipp.police.uk)[6] Information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or via their non-traceable online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org[7] For more information about the Kate Bushell murder case please visit: MURDER APPEAL – Catch Kate Bushell’s Killer – Devon & Cornwall Police (devon-cornwall.police.uk)[8]
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References
- ^ Exeter (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Christmas (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Try DevonLive Premium for free with no intrusive ads and brilliant new features (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ deployed to investigate the murder of Kate (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ spoken of a sense of unfinished business (www.devonlive.com)
- ^ Public Portal (mipp.police.uk) (mipp.police.uk)
- ^ www.crimestoppers-uk.org (www.crimestoppers-uk.org)
- ^ MURDER APPEAL – Catch Kate Bushell’s Killer – Devon & Cornwall Police (devon-cornwall.police.uk) (news.devon-cornwall.police.uk)
- ^ here on iPhone (apps.apple.com)
- ^ here on Android (play.google.com)
- ^ here (www.devonlive.com)