Victoria Hall: Man Re-arrested in Unsolved Murder of Teenage Girl in 1999
Police investigating a 24-year-old cold case involving the murder of teenage girl Victoria Hall have re-arrested a prior suspect.
The 17-year-old victim vanished as she made her her way home from a nightclub in 1999 in the early hours of Sunday, September 19 in High Road, Felixtowe. Her naked body was discovered in in a ditch by a dog walker in Creeting St Peter on September 24, 1999, five days after she was last seen alive.
Since then, as part of the reinvestigation, the Operation Avon team has taken statements from more than 500 witnesses, reviewed more than 43,000 documents and 9,000 exhibits and viewed more than 3,500 hours of CCTV footage. The murder probe was reopened by Suffolk Police on the 20th anniversary of Victoria’s disappearance on September 19.
Victoria was last seen alive in September 1999 (
Image: PA)
A police investigation into her death was re-opened in 2019 (
Image: Press Association)
Suffolk Police have tonight confirmed they have re-arrested a man on suspicion of murder as investigations continue. A spokesman said: “On 28 July 2021, police arrested a man on suspicion of murder in connection with the investigation and he was subsequently released under investigation after being questioned by detectives. This individual was not someone who had previously been arrested as part of this inquiry.
“Yesterday, Wednesday 6 December, the same man was re-arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into police custody for questioning, before being released under investigation pending further enquiries. Anyone with information about Victoria’s death is asked to contact the Major Investigation Team, via either the online portal or by telephone.”
Police standing guard in 1999 close to where the victim was found
Victoria, from Trimley St Mary, left home on the evening of September 18 1999 for a night out with a friend at the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe. The girls left the club at around 1am the following morning and parted ways at around 2.20am, yards from Victoria’s home. That was the last time she was seen alive.
Her parents woke in the morning to discover their daughter had not returned home and a missing persons inquiry was launched. Her body was found five days later in Creeting St Peter, around 25 miles from where she was last seen. None of her clothing or possessions have been found. In 2001, a businessman stood trial charged with Victoria’s murder but was unanimously cleared by a jury within 90 minutes.
Earlier this year Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Connick, the new Senior Investigating Officer, said: “I have been working on this case for the past three years, so am fully embedded in the inquiry and have been able to seamlessly pick-up the baton from my predecessors who had made significant inroads already. We remain fully committed to this inquiry; the work being undertaken is extremely time consuming but absolutely necessary.
“The anniversary date of Victoria’s disappearance is always a time of reflection for us, as well as Victoria’s family and friends. We never lose sight of the young life ended so needlessly at the centre of everything we are doing.
We continue to be grateful for the support and patience of Victoria’s family and we ensure they are provided with regular updates as to the progress we are making. They understand the vital lengths that we need to take to achieve the end goal for us all – which is to achieve justice for Victoria.
“I would like to renew our appeal to anyone with information about Victoria’s murder who has not yet come forward, to do the right thing and contact us. If you have any information – no matter how insignificant this may seem – we want to hear from you. It is never too late.”
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