Arrest made and search for body launched in cold case team's quest for justice in South Yorkshire
A South Yorkshire Police detective has urged anyone with further information to finish the “jigsaw”
This month police confirmed a 57-year-old man had been re-arrested over the unsolved killing of Doncaster gran Nora Tait more than 20 years ago.
Making the announcement after receiving fresh intelligence, a South Yorkshire Police detective urged anyone with further information to finish the “jigsaw” and help secure “that all-important justice after all these years”.
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The arrested male, from Doncaster, was detained on September 7.
He was taken in nearly 12 months after re-appeal for information last October on the 20th anniversary of Nora's death.
The 69-year-old was killed in her home in Stone Close Avenue, Hexthorpe, on October 13, 2005, and is believed to have died the day before.
Despite a £10,000 Crimestoppers reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer being offered, nobody was ever charged.
Mrs Tait, a former seamstress, was assaulted with such ferocity that she had severe fractures to her skull - caused by a number of blows to the back of her head.
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Her purse, believed to have contained a small amount of cash, was missing when her home was searched following the discovery of her body.
Speaking after the fresh arrest this month, Detective Chief Inspector Ben Wood said: “If you know something and you are keeping it to yourself, I urge you to think of the pain this is causing Nora's family and loved ones.
"Do it for Nora, and do it for her family to help give them the closure they so desperately need. "Our drive throughout this long-running investigation has been to give Nora's family the answers they need after decades of hurt.
"Nora's family have been informed of this latest development and we remain in contact with them as we seek to give them the solace they deserve.
"Someone knows what happened to Nora and we believe those answers lie in the local community in and around Stone Close Avenue in Hexthorpe.”
And this week police have been searching a field off Piper Lane in Aston, Rotherham, in the search for the remains of Teresa Shephard - more than 31 years after she was last seen.
Thr 26-year-old disappeared in 1995 and despite her body ever being found, her ex-partner, Peter Turner, was charged with murder and convicted after a trial.
SYP’s cold case team has notched up a string of successful convictions over the years, including most recently when David Hill was handed 15 years’ jail for the knife-point rape of 27-year-old woman in a Sheffield underground car park.
He was charged and convicted in March this year - over 40 years since the 1985 attack - when a DNA analysis placed him at the scene.
Sex predator James Lloyd - dubbed the Dearne Valley shoe rapist after his secret collection of victims’ stilettos - was caught over 20 years after a string of attacks on women, admitting four rapes and two attempted rapes in 2006.
However despite its successes a slew of cases remain unsolved by the cold case team - despite years of re-appeals and ongoing investigations.
The killer of 13-year-old Rotherham girl Anne Dunwell - strangled with her own stockings 62 years ago - has never been detected.
Anne was was found at the bottom of a manure heap between the Rotherham hamlets of Carr and Slade Hooton on May 7, 1964.
Her naked body - which still had a stocking tied around her neck - was discovered by a passing lorry driver the morning after she had disappeared while headed to a bus stop after visiting an aunt in Bramley.
A post-mortem later revealed the 13-year-old had been strangled with her own stockings and viciously sexually assaulted.
Forensics showed the killer’s semen was found on the teen’s stockings however in 2022 a reopened investigation failed to identify the killer on the national database despite advancements in DNA.
Eighty-year-old South Yorkshire miner Tommy Ward died five months after he was viciously beaten and robbed in October 2015.
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His killer robbed Tommy of his life savings before leaving him with a smashed skull, broken ribs and a fractured jaw, however 11 years since the brutal attack the person responsible has never been caught.
Tommy, who weighed nine stone when he was set upon, suffered injuries that were so bad he was never able to tell police anything about his assailant.
Despite a £10,000 Crimewatch appeal the hunt for the callous killer who cost Tommy his life continues.
Thirty-five years have passed since Barnsley woman Wendy Gallagher was strangled with an electrical cord in her home, where she lived alone.
She was last seen alive in Barnsley town centre on January 18, 1991 and her body was discovered three days later – on January 21. However despite ongoing work to find the killer, their identity remains a mystery.
On October 11, 1998 Sheffield nightclub boss Michael Baxendale was stabbed to death in a brawl on the doors famous city centre club Niche.
The 48-year-old dad-of-two was manager of the famous venue - a major name on the UK’s rave scene - owned by his brother Steve at the time.
Two bouncers were also injured in the knife attack - with investigative theories suggesting a group from Manchester thrown out of the club earlier in the night could have been involved.
Back in 1998 when Michael was killed there were hundreds of clubbers at the venue but witnesses failed to come forward in numbers. Arrests were made but nobody was ever charged.
The killer of mum-of-one Michaela Hague, from Sheffield, has also evaded justice since the sex worker was stabbed to death.
The 25-year-old was attacked on November 5, 2001.
She had only recently started working as a prostitute to fund a drug habit when tragedy struck.
A fellow sex worker who found Michaela after the knife attack raised the alarm and told police that an old-style blue Ford Sierra had driven away from the scene.
Michaela managed to pass on some vital information to the first police officer on the scene - PC Richard Twigg - describing her attacker as white and clean-shaven. She said he wore a wedding ring and explained where he had picked her up from.
She also said he was around 38-year-old, about 6ft and was wearing a blue fleece and glasses.
In 2024, South Yorkshire Police was contacted by someone with suspicions about who the killer may be.
It is understood that the man whose name was put forward was spoken to at his home shortly after Michaela’s murder and that he gave an alibi.
It has been suggested to South Yorkshire Police that the alibi may have been false.
The coroner who carried out an inquest into Michaela's death said at the time that he hoped advances in DNA would eventually help cops crack the case.
Anyone with information about any of the unsolved crimes should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.