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A murder alone is shocking enough – but when one goes unsolved, the fear of a killer walking freely among us sends chills down the spine.
Despite long-running police investigations, a number of brutal murders, some of which span back to the 1970s, are still baffling police.
Some have had convictions and acquittals, police corruption, and even been linked to other cases – but the true suspect has got away.
In the case of some, recent advancements in DNA technology raise the hope that the victims' loved ones will finally see justice.
The Daily Star has taken a deep dive into a few of Britain's most prolific unsolved murders.
Jill Dando
Former Crimewatch presenter, Jill Dando, 37, was shot in the head outside her flat on Gowan Avenue, Fulham, West London in 1999, where she was found by her neighbours.
A blue Range Rover that had been parked on the street was captured on CCTV was captured driving away at speed from the murder scene. sparking a murder inquiry by Scotland Yard.
Investigations resulted in unemployed loner Barry George being jailed for her murder in July 2001 but he was granted a retrial on appeal and received acquittal by a jury in August 2008.
So far, the Metropolitan Police have not been able to crack the case in almost a decade since George's release with investigators suspected that Dando died at the hands of a professional assassin.
The Met has pledged to investigate any new information that comes to light regarding the case but for now, it remains unsolved.
Suzy Lamplugh
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Estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, 25, disappeared after leaving her office to show a man known only as "Mr Kipper" around a house in Fulham, west London in 1986.
Her Ford Fiesta car was recovered on the day she went missing, about a mile away, however, she wasn't declared dead or even presumed murdered until eight years later, in 1994.
Convicted sex killer John Cannan, who has been interviewed several times in connection with the case, remains a prime suspect in the investigation into Suzy's death as three days before she vanished Cannan was released from a hostel at Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
He had been serving a six-year sentence for rape the rape and murder of newlywed Shirley Banks in Bristol in 1989.
The spotlight was shone most recently on Cannan in October last year when detectives pulled up a patio at his mother's former home in Sutton Coldfield.
But despite a two-week search of the property, no evidence was recovered.
The suspect cannot face trial for Suzy's murder while her body is still missing.
Eve Stratford
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Eve Stratford was raped and killed in her home on the evening of March 18, 1975.
The bunny girl at London's Park Lane Playboy club was found with her throat slashed between eight and 12 times.
Detectives believe the 22-year-old who was found by her boyfriend Tony may have known her killer and invited him in.
Eve's murder then appeared to be linked to other rapes and murders in 2007 as six months after her death, Lynne Weedon, 16, was brutally attacked and raped in an alleyway near her home in Hounslow at 11 pm on September 3.
She died after being found barely alive at an electricity substation the next day.
Despite neither victim knowing each other, the DNA discovered on both victims matched.
Former Met Police detective Colin Sutton believes a third woman, Lynda Farrow – who was knifed to death in her home four years later in 1979 – was also a victim of the same killer.
Billie-Jo Jenkins
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Billie-Jo Jenkins was found in a pool of blood in the back garden of foster father Sion Jenkins' house in Hastings, East Sussex, on February 15, 1997.
The 13-year-old was battered over the head at least 10 times with an 18-inch iron tent peg as she painted patio doors and her foster father was jailed for life in 1998 for her murder.
However, he was acquitted following two retrials.
Billie-Jo's family previously called for police to investigate M25 rapist Antoni Imiela over her death, in 2017, 20 years after the 13-year-old was bludgeoned to death.
Rikki Neave
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The half-naked body of six-year-old Rikki Neave was found in woodland near his home in Peterborough on November 29, 1994.
He had been strangled and his school uniform was found in a dustbin, yards from the wooded area.
His mother Ruth was later charged with his murder and then acquitted. However, she was sentenced to seven years in prison for child cruelty and her children were placed in care.
Later a man named, James Watson, 37, was arrested on suspicion of killing Rikki but the Crown Prosecution Service announced there is insufficient evidence to charge him over the schoolboy's murder.
Cambridgeshire Police said there are no updates into the investigation into Rikki's murder.
Daniel Morgan
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Daniel Morgan, 37, was a private detective based in south London, where he lived with his wife and children.
On 10 March 1987, he went for a drink at the Golden Lion pub in Sydenham, where he was found dead in the pub car park, with an axe embedded in his head.
Two sticky plaster strips had been wrapped around the axe handle to prevent fingerprint evidence from being left behind, Metropolitan police say.
The police force have also now accepted there was corruption in its staffing as it was revealed that Detective Sid Fillery, who worked on the first murder investigation had close ties to Rees, and he went on to replace Morgan at Southern Investigations.
Despite five police investigations, the last collapsing in 2011, no one has been convicted for the murder.
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In 2017 four men targeted by the Met sued the force in the high court alleging malicious prosecution. Among them were Rees and his brothers-in-law, Glenn Vian, and his brother Garry. They denied charges of murder. Those three lost their case against the Met, however, they won an appeal in 2018 and were awarded £414k between them.
The fourth man, Fillery, accused of perverting the course of justice, won part of his claim. He left the Met in 1988.
- Murder
- MET Police
- Crime
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