Dawn Shields: Murder of Sheffield woman found naked on Mam Tor unsolved for nearly 30 years

Dawn Shields was just 19 years old when she disappeared from Sheffield back in May 1994. The young woman was working as a prostitute when she was picked up in a car in Broomhall – Sheffield’s red light district at the time – and disappeared.

Her body was later found in a shallow grave on the slopes of Mam Tor, Castleton, one week later. The naked body of the mum-of-one, from Pitsmoor, was discovered by a National Park ranger. She had head injuries, had been strangled and was buried under some rocks.

It is said that Dawn had been ‘pressurised into prostitution’ from the age of 14 and was plying her trade on the city’s streets to support herself and her 11-month-old son at the time of her death.

To mark the 25th anniversary of her murder, South Yorkshire Police carried out a review of the case in the hope of developing new leads. It was hoped that advances in technology would provide a breakthrough when murder inquiry exhibits held in storage for decades were re-examined. But to this day, Dawn’s killer remains at large.

Dave Stopford, in charge of the probe at that time, said the murder was a “horrendous crime” and that the killer was a “violent person”.

He said Dawn was a “vulnerable, young person” when she was killed and the police force was keen to secure “justice” for her and her family.

Dawn's death is one of two unsolved killings in Sheffield involving sex workers.

Michaela Hague, 25, was killed seven years later after being picked up from Bower Street, off Corporation Street in the city centre, on Bonfire Night 2001. She was found stabbed slumped on a car park at nearby Spitalfields after being stabbed 19 times in her back and neck.

Michaela had been working as a prostitute to fund a drug habit when she was seen getting into a car. She was driven to a dark nearby car par – opposite a pub known then as The Manchester, but which is now The Harlequin.

An old-style blue Ford Sierra was spotted driving away from the car park – triggering a nationwide hunt for the car and its driver but to no avail. Police officers made national appeals for information, with Michaela’s murder featured on Crimewatch. Officers also travelled the length and breadth of the country following up leads, but the killer has never been identified.

The first police officer deployed to the crime scene spoke to Michaela and managed to retrieve valuable information from the young woman, who was found in a pool of blood and died in hospital three hours later.

It was hoped that the clues provided – that her attacker was white, clean-shaven and wore a wedding ring – would help detectives track him down.

A police E-fit was later produced and shared on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme in case the killer was from elsewhere in the country but he was never traced

Michaela, who had a five-year-old son at the time of her death, started working as a prostitute just six months earlier, an inquest into her death was told.