Detectives have today released new CCTV footage of murdered 13-year-old Lucy McHugh from the day she disappeared as they hunt for her killer.
In the new footage from the morning of Wednesday July 25 – 24 hours before she was found knifed to death – the schoolgirl can be seen walking alone through the streets of Southampton, Hampshire.
The footage shows her walking past a convenience store in Wimpson Lane at 9.06am and later on Coxford Road near Southampton General Hospital at 9.22am.
She is dressed in a black jacket with a white t-shirt, along with camouflage trousers and trainers.
CCTV footage released last week showed Lucy walking ‘purposefully’ past a Tesco Express at the corner of Lordswood Road in Southampton at 9:28am.
Around 24 hours later, at 7.45am on July 26, her body was found in woodland by Southampton Sports Centre, having gone missing from her home in the Millbrook area of Southampton.
This new CCTV image shows 13-year-old Lucy McHugh walking towards Southampton General Hospital the day before her murder
Today detectives hunting the killer said she was deliberately lured her to secluded woodland so they could murder her without witnesses or bring filmed.
A spokesman from Hampshire Constabulary urged for members of the public to come forward after the force released the new CCTV.
Lucy McHugh’s killer lured her to secluded woodland so they could murder her without witnesses or bring filmed, police said today
He said today: ‘The 13-year-old is shown on CCTV walking past a convenience store in Wimpson Lane at 9.06am and on Coxford Road near Southampton General Hospital at 9.22am.
‘We know that Lucy was next seen at the Tesco Express at the corner of Lordswood Road at 9.28am.
‘The big question is: what happened to her between then and 7.45am the next morning (Thursday 26 July), when her body was found at the Sports Centre?’
Detective Superintendent Paul Barton added: ‘These CCTV images show Lucy walking purposefully in the direction of the General Hospital shortly after she left her home in Mansel Road East.
‘Perhaps you were on your way to a hospital appointment that morning and saw Lucy, but did not think anything of it at the time.
‘You may have seen her near the hospital or after she went past the Tesco Express further along Coxford Road.
‘You’ll see that a number 17 bus passed Lucy near the hospital. Were you on that bus and did you see her later on?
‘It’s never too late to get in touch – your piece of information could make the difference in finding Lucy’s killer.’
Hampshire Police Detective Superintendent Paul Barton said police think the schoolgirl’s murderer knew her and chose that spot to stab her to death as there is no CCTV nearby.
He revealed investigators are also struggling because they cannot trace any phone signal at that spot either.
It came as police released a new CCTV image of the schoolgirl walking near Southampton General Hospital on July 25 at 9am.
CCTV footage (left) of the last known movements of murdered schoolgirl Lucy on the day she died (right) remains central to the investigation
Lucy was last seen wearing a distinctive black jacket with white sleeves, the logo for the band Falling in Reverse on the front and RADKE 01 in red on the back, white vest top, camouflage leggings and black and white Jordan 23 trainers.
It comes as police renewed their hunt for the murder weapon yesterday and up to 15 specialist officers from the National Crime Agency (NCA) were drafted in to help the investigation.
At 7.45am on July 26 Lucy’s body was found in woodland by Southampton Sports Centre having gone missing from her home in the Millbrook area of Southampton 24 hours before.
Investigators have still not located the weapon – believed to be a knife or scissors – used to kill Lucy and have also appealed directly to her friends, who they suspect she may have told where she was going.
Charity Crimestoppers has put up a £10,000 reward for anyone who can provide information leading to the killer’s conviction.
Stephen-Alan Nicholson, 24, was arrested in connection with the teenager’s death but later bailed. He was then charged with failing to cooperate with police after he refused to tell them his Facebook password.
Hampshire Constabulary’s Det Sup Barton said Lucy’s killer may have picked the secluded woodland area of the Sports Centre as their ‘intended area’ to murder her.
He said the quiet wooded area has no CCTV or phone signal, making the investigation more difficult.
Lucy died near Southampton Sports Centre in wood with no cameras and no phone signal
Det Sup Barton told ITV Meridian: ‘The fact that we are now struggling in the location of where she was found because there is no CCTV, that may well have been an intended area for Lucy to meet her killer.
‘I think she was walking past Tesco Express on the morning of the 25th with purpose and I think she was going to meet somebody – and I think that was the person who killed her.
‘There is no CCTV and there is no telephony we can rely upon and there are no clear eye-witnesses, so that presents us with a real challenge – but we haven’t given up.’
He urged the public to come forward with information about anybody acting ‘suspiciously’ the day she went missing or in the ‘early hours’ of the day she was found.
He said: ‘All this time we have been focusing on Lucy and sightings of Lucy.
‘What I really want the public to do now is focus on people that may have looked suspicious on that day or the 26th in the early hours coming away from the Sports Centre.
‘Were they running away? Were they looking distressed? Were they looking suspicious? Did you see them go somewhere? Maybe they hid the weapon.’
He also said: ‘I think we’ve made some really good progress and a lot of that is down to the local community so I’m really grateful for the support they are giving us.
‘But we still need some key information.
‘We have somebody who has been brutally murdered in a secluded and wooded area.
‘I think people will be concerned and quite rightly so – a 13-year-old being killed in a public place is horrific.
‘The family are obviously deeply distressed and we have specialist family liaison officers working with them on a regular basis. Giving them updates in relation to the investigation.
‘Her friends are off school at the moment so I think it will hit them harder when they return to school.’
Police launched a fresh search for the murder weapon yesterday in wooded areas by the Southampton Sports Centre after ending their initial search a week ago.
Almost a dozen officers can be seen in pictures searching woodland where Lucy’s body was found three weeks ago.
NCA officers joined Hampshire Constabulary this week order to boost the investigation and Det Sup Barton said his team were ‘making the most’ of the additional help.
He said: ‘The team offers specialist investigative skills in key areas such as serious crime analysis, research, digital media and behavioural science..’
He also made a direct plea to Lucy’s friends, saying they would not be ‘betraying’ her by sharing any secrets they know with the police.
He added: ‘Lucy was a typical 13-year-old girl. She had lots of friends, she was doing well at school, had secrets from her parents and her friends – that’s all very typical.
‘What I would ask her friends to do in particular is if they knew any secrets of Lucy, you’re not betraying her by telling us what they are.’
Police have also searched and removed carpet at a property near the Sports Centre where Nicholson, a care worker, regularly visited an elderly man who it’s believed he cared for.
Lucy’s funeral will take place on Bank Holiday Monday at Southampton’s Hollybrook Cemetery – only half a mile from where her body was discovered.
Her mother Stacey White has urged the teenager’s friends to ‘celebrate her life’ at the funeral.
Ms White, 31, said ‘all who were positive in Lucy’s life are welcome to attend’ and encouraged them to wear blue and green rather than black, as these were the teenager’s favourite colours.
The devastated mother, a care worker, also revealed police were taking the unusual step of sending officers to the funeral ‘to assist’.
Generous members of the public have fundraised over £7,000 to cover funeral costs on crowdfunding site GoFundMe.
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