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VIDEO: Cold cases solved - and a request for help with others
20-year-old identity mystery solved
The disappearance of a woman in Bedford that has remained a mystery for 20 years has finally been solved by detectives.
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Cold Case Review Team has revealed how it solved the case of Lesley Ann Pickavance when it issued fresh appeals to identify the bodies of four other people in Beds and Herts.
It is thought that Lesley Ann disappeared during the summer of 1990.
She had been in contact with her family who were from Bedford, but was not living with them.
BHCCRT investigator Tom Read said: "It is really great news for the family of Lesley Ann that they can finally grieve for her.
"They have spent the last 20 years in limbo not knowing what had happened. For them they were out of contact with Lesley Ann so it wasn't strange for them that she hadn't been in touch.
"They are understandably very upset and shocked when we told them, but they have cremated Lesley Ann and scattered her ashes so they will now be able to grieve for her properly."
At a police briefing at Beds Police headquarters in Kempston, Det Chief Insp Sean O'Neil who leads the cold case review team, explained how Lesley Ann was hit by several cars on the A1(M) near to Potters Bar in Hertfordshire in 1990.
For years police were unable to identify her body, but earlier this year they matched her through fingerprint samples she had given when she had been arrested previously.
Detectives on the team are now appealing for help from the public in identifying the deaths of two other people in Bedfordshire.
A homeless man, dubbed locally as Old Ragbones, was discovered dead by three young schoolboys who were bunking off school at a man made shelter in Biggleswade on February 6, 1997.
He died from lung and brain cancer and was believed to be in his 50s. Detectives believe that he may at some point in his life have worked in London, but decided to have a break from city life when he discovered he was terminally ill.
The unidentified man, known only by police as The Tattooed Man, has a distinctive tattoo featuring a woman's head and a heart, and part of a name that appears to start with a capital letter and ends in Y.
Mr O'Neil said: "It is only rumour that he worked in the city, but if this is the case then somebody somewhere must remember a co-worker leaving their place of work unannounced and with very little notice.
"We would urge those people to come forward and hopefully this appeal may re-jog people's memories."
Elsewhere, in Luton, the team is appealing for help in identifying the body of a male, known only as The Smartly Dressed Man.
His body was found burnt-out by a disused railway cutting in East Hyde, near Luton on April 17, 1974.
A post-mortem found that he had died from inhalation of fire fumes. He was aged between 40 and 50, around 5ft 10ins, and had dark frizzy hair.
A petrol can was found lying next to him, and its lid was in his coat pocket.
Retired policeman and manager of the cold case team Mick Flavin said: "Out of all the cases this is the only case where we have absolutely no idea how he died and that is the truth of the matter.
"This is a highly unusual case. The man was very smartly dressed, but there was no vehicle found near the scene, which was quite remote.
"How did he get there? It's quite bizarre to have absolutely no clue as to his identity. Absolutely no-one came forward to claim back this man, who died alone and unknown."
Mr Flavin also pointed out that the man only has one tooth that was his own, which he finds particularly strange in a young man.
Anyone with any information on any of the cases can call the team on 0845 330 0222.
To see video footage of the appeal by Natalee Hazelwood go to www.bedfordtoday.co.uk
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Weather for Biggleswade
Sunday 12 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 4 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
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