Detectives are closing in on the killer of a trainee hairdresser 25 years ago as they revealed that they have his DNA profile.
Colette Aram, 16, was abducted as she walked from her home to her boyfriend's house in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire, on October 30, 1983.
She was raped and then strangled before her naked body was dumped in a field just over a mile from where she went missing. Detectives found it the next day.
Despite the case being the first ever featured on Crimewatch and hundreds of officers being deployed to hunt for the killer, he was never caught.
Now Nottinghamshire Police say they have developed a DNA profile of the man who murdered Colette thanks to advancements in forensic technology.
The profile was formed last year after items recovered during the original murder investigation were re-examined using new forensic techniques.
Since then police have ruled out 1,500 possible suspects, including 800 men who were eliminated after the DNA profile of the killer was compared to their own mouth swabs.
Detectives have also investigated suspects who have died since the murder, as well as Robert Black, who is serving life for the rape and murder of three young girls in the 1980s. Following his conviction in 1994 he was implicated in Colette's murder.
Police want the public to come forward with the names of suspects who could be swabbed in what detectives describe as a "simple process".
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As part of the investigation, officers will start a publicity campaign, during which they will spend the next three weeks distributing leaflets reminding people about Colette's murder to 15,000 homes in south Nottinghamshire.
