Michaela Hague murder: 'It fills me with horror that the killer may still be walking the streets'
The agony for Michaela’s family continues
In 2001 I had only been at The Star for a few weeks when the news of Michaela Hague’s death broke and I was sent to the crime scene.
I met the senior detective overseeing the case and there was optimism that the killer would soon be found.
There were witnesses and Michaela herself had provided vital information - a full description of her attacker.
It felt like the police had a fighting chance.
So for the case to still remain unsolved after 25 years fills me with sadness for Michaela’s family and friends.
It must be agonising for them not to have seen justice served yet.
It also fills me with horror that someone capable of such horrific violence may still be walking the streets.
The truth is, nobody knows where he is. He may be in prison for another offence, he may have passed away or he may be living alongside any one of us without us being aware of his monstrous past and just what he is capable of.
I also covered the inquest into Michaela’s death where the coroner at the time said he hoped advances in technology would help detectives crack the case. I live in hope that he is right.
Sheffield needs to know that that man who robbed a young woman of her life and her young son of his mum pays the price.
The case is one of a number on the books of South Yorkshire Police’s major incident review team.
It looks at unsolved serious cases such as murders and rapes in the hope of finding things which may have been missed when the cases were originally investigated. They also look for new leads and investigate tips offs or new material which may come to light.
The Star has covered a number of the team’s cold case success stories over the years, where offenders who thought they had got away with it were proven wrong.
For Michaela’s loved ones, I hope that shining a light on her murder on this 25th anniversary helps land another such offender behind bars.
If you know anything and can provide detectives with that key piece of information they need to finally solve this case, please come forward.