Police arrest man over 26-year-old murder case

Saturday 23 March 2013

A 48-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested by police over the alleged murder of a schoolgirl more than 26 years ago.

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The development came 20 months after the BBC's Crimewatch reconstructed the last known movements of victim Elaine Doyle, resulting in a flood of calls to the investigating force, Strathclyde.

Elaine, 16, was allegedly strangled and sexually assaulted after walking home from a disco in her home town of Greenock, Inverclyde, in June 1986.

Her body was found the following day in a lane off Ardgowan Street, less than 50 yards from her home.Elaine's handbag also vanished on the night she died, but turned up later outside the town's library. It was described as a bizarre attempt to taunt the investigating team.The reconstruction, shown in July 2011, resulted in more than 140 calls and police followed up a number of leads. Detective Constable Willie Brandon said at the time of the programme: "We know Elaine bravely fought back, but, quite frankly, she never stood a chance."Advances in DNA in 2003 also aided the inquiry, with a full DNA profile from samples from the scene. Using DNA analysis and behaviour profiling, police compared the genetic material to records held on the national DNA database, as well as databases in countries as far afield as Australia. In 2011, police also appealed directly to anyone who harboured any suspicions about friends or relatives they thought may have been involved to come forward.On the 25th anniversary, of her death, Elaine's father Jack Doyle, 67, who suffers ill health, appealed again for information, saying: "We deserve justice, not just the family, but Elaine herself. We remain hopeful an investigation could be successful."Time has not healed the wounds. "The passage of time teaches you to cope with the heartbreak but as any parent who has lost a child will know, the pain Maureen [Elaine's mother] and I feel on a daily basis is as real as when we first received that awful news."A police spokesman said: "We can now confirm a 48-year-old man has been arrested by Strathclyde Police in connection with a murder on June 2, 1986."

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Police arrest man over 26-year-old murder case

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