Natalie Pearman Murder 20 Years On

20 November 2012, 00:00 | Updated: 20 November 2012, 08:38

Police are making a new appeal twenty years on since the murder of 16 year old Natalie Pearman.

At 3:50am on Thursday 20 November 1992, a lorry driver on his way to work discovered the body of a girl in a lay-by at Ringland Road, on the outskirts of Norwich.

The body was found to be that of Natalie Jane Pearman, a 16 year old, born on 25 December 1975, who had been working as a prostitute in the red light district of Norwich.

Natalie was last seen alive in Rouen Road in Norwich at 1:15am that day.

The location where Natalie's body was found is some 5 miles away from the area she had been working.

Natalie Pearman layby

A Post Mortem examination revealed that Natalie had died from asphyxia.  Forensic swabs revealed that semen was present in her body and on her under body garments and a DNA crime stain was obtained and loaded onto the national DNA database.  At present the DNA has never been matched against anyone on the English database.

This case has never been closed and been subject to reviews since 1992. Work is still being carried out to identify whose DNA was found on Natalie.

An appeal in 2011 resulted in an anonymous caller who claimed to have spotted Natalie in King Street prior to her death.  Further appeals to this caller to make contact failed to recover any extra information.
 
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Guy, who leads the cold case team within the MIT commented on the appeal saying: "Natalie’s murder is one of those cases that could be easily solved with one piece of information. There are people who know or strongly suspect who was responsible and I’m sure that plays heavily on their conscience. All we need is a name and we will do the rest, it is a simple matter of matching DNA. Natalie was little more than a child when she was murdered and her and her family deserve that this case is resolved.'

Anyone with information regarding Natalie’s death is asked to contact the MIT cold case team on 01953 424520 or 101. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

DCI Andy Guy talks to Heart's Hannah Griffiths about the death of Natalie Pearman