The murder of a teenage girl, who was sexually assaulted and strangled to death 50 years ago, may now be solved by the latest DNA technology.
Rita Ellis was 19 when her body was found by a dog walker near a disused railway line at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire in 1967.
She was discovered beaten and strangled near to where she worked and her killer has never been found.
But now detectives believe advances in DNA techniques have enabled them to build a full profile of the killer.
Police revealed that 200 of thousands of suspects have now been ruled out as responsible for the murder.
Rita Ellis was 19 when her body was found by a dog walker near a disused railway line at RAF Halton in Buckinghamshire in 1967
She was discovered beaten and strangled near to where she worked and her killer has never been found. A bag found after the murder of 19-year-old Rita Ellis
Picture released by Thames Valley Police of the RAF Halton as part of Rita Ellis murder probe
Rita’s sister, Tina Streeter, said: ‘I am a very caring person but at the same side of it, if the assailant has died, I hope he suffered. I am sorry to say that but that is how I feel, because it wasn’t just one life that was ruined it was a whole family.’
On the night of the murder, Saturday November 11, 1967, Miss Ellis was supposed to babysit for a wing commander and his wife, but she was not at their agreed pick-up point.
There were two events being held at the RAF camp that night, bingo and a disco, meaning there were hundreds of people on the base.
Miss Ellis, who was stationed at the camp, was last seen alive at 8pm on the Saturday in her accommodation at Halton, near Aylesbury.
Her body was found the next morning by a dog walker near a disused railway in the area.
Police said they believe the offender was a young man, possibly in his teens to 20s, making him in his 60s to 80s now.
Miss Ellis, who was stationed at the camp, was last seen alive at 8pm on the Saturday in her accommodation at Halton, near Aylesbury
There were two events being held at the RAF camp that night, bingo and a disco, meaning there were hundreds of people on the base. Pictured is a newspaper report of her murder
Technological advances mean that a full DNA profile of the murderer has been obtained, but so far it has not matched anyone on the national database, or any of the nearly 200 people swabbed.
Mrs Streeter, 60, said: ‘I don’t forgive. I’m not one of these people that will go on television and say actually I’ve forgiven the person, no, I could never forgive them ever.’
She said her parents, who have since died, always had hope that their daughter’s killer would be caught.
Mrs Streeter said Miss Ellis (pictured) was a ‘wonderful’ sister, adding: ‘Just come forward and open up, and perhaps those people will feel better about themselves, have peace with themselves and give a result for the family after all these years’
Rita’s sister, Tina Streeter (pictured), said: ‘I am a very caring person but at the same side of it, if the assailant has died, I hope he suffered. I am sorry to say that but that is how I feel, because it wasn’t just one life that was ruined it was a whole family’
Mrs Streeter said Miss Ellis was a ‘wonderful’ sister, adding: ‘Just come forward and open up, and perhaps those people will feel better about themselves, have peace with themselves and give a result for the family after all these years.’
Head of the Thames Valley Police major crime review team Peter Beirne said: ‘The person responsible for Rita’s murder will have had this horrific act on their conscience for 50 years, and there has to be a possibility that they have confided in someone during this time.
‘If you have any information, even if you think the information is insignificant, please come forward.’
A number of arrests were made at the time of the murder, but no-one has ever been charged.