Murder of Sheffield prostitute remains unsolved 26 years later

Dawn Shields, aged 19, disappeared after getting into a car in Broomhall – Sheffield’s red light district at the time - on Friday, May 13, 1994.

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Her body was found in a shallow grave a week later on the slopes of Mam Tor, Castleton, in the Peak District.

The mum-of-one, from Pitsmoor, became involved in street prostitution at a young age and plied her trade to support herself and her 11-month-old son at the time of her death.

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Her naked body was found by a National Park warden buried in a shallow grave under some rocks.

She had head injuries and had been strangled.

Nearly 26 years on to the day she vanished, nobody has yet been charged with her murder.

Dawn's death is one of two unsolved prostitute killings in Sheffield.

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 slumped on a car park at nearby Spitalfields after being stabbed 19 times in her back and neck.

Possible links between the two cases have been investigated but there is nothing to suggest the same killer was responsible.

South Yorkshire Police re-appealed for information on Dawn’s death last year on the 25th anniversary of the killing and sent off crime scene exhibits for new forensic examination.

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.