| A dedicated phone-line will also be set up and officers will be using the major crime investigation tool, the HOLMES system (the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System).
Police in Dundee have already received a number calls since newspaper articles were published in advance of Thursday night’s Grampian TV production, Unsolved: Getting Away With Murder, sadly without a positive response.
The body of 20-year-old nursery nurse Elizabeth McCabe was discovered in Templeton Woods on the city outskirts in 1980 only 150 yards from where the corpse of strangled prostitute Carol Lannen was found almost a year before. She too had been strangled.
Despite one of the biggest police investigations the city has ever seen and the offer of a substantial reward, police are still waiting for the breakthrough to close the case.
“It is still the aim to detect both of these crimes,” said Detective Inspector Jim Graham.
The HOLMES system allows information to be presented and charted in a simple manner and was established after the Yorkshire Ripper enquiry. It is designed to allow effective research and analysis of data.
As well as increasing the speed and accuracy of data input, it will help the enquiry team compare any information they receive from the public with statements and associated material to avoid duplication.
DI Graham said, “We will have officers on stand by to take any calls after the programme. As with any major incident, you tend to get a lot of calls from the public.
“Any information we receive will be fed into the HOLMES system to avoid duplication.
“If we receive any new information, teams will be despatched to speak to the person who provided that information.
“Since the earlier article appeared, we have received a few calls, but nothing positive has come of that at the moment. Some of the information has simply reinforced what we already know. It’s difficult to gauge just what response there will be after the programme. There might be 10 calls, there might be 1000.
In March, 1979, the naked body of teenage mother Carol Lannen was discovered the day after she was last seen entering a red estate car in Exchange Street.
The driver was said to be aged between 25-30, thin with a pale complexion and a full moustache and a photo-fit picture was issued.
The search for a red Ford Cortina took up most police time. Vehicle registration records were minutely examined and more than 6000 drivers of that type and colour of car were questioned.
Carol’s clothing and handbag were found 11 days later on the banks of the River Don, near Kintore, around 12 miles from Aberdeen.
Elizabeth was last seen at a Union Street disco at 12.30 am on February 11, 1980,when she told friends she was going home.
Her clothing and handbag were found in three different parts of the city.
DI Graham concluded, “The public can be assured that every call will be treated in the strictest confidence.” |
