Victoria Hall: Suffolk Police say significant progress made in 1999 murder

Significant progress has been made in an investigation into the murder of a 17-year-old girl 22 years after her death, police say.

Victoria Hall, from Trimley St Mary, went missing on her way home from a nightclub in Felixstowe, Suffolk, on 19 September 1999.

Her naked body was discovered in a water-filled ditch five days later.

Suffolk Police has called for anyone with information to "do the right thing" and contact them.

Victoria was last seen alive in the early hours of 19 September in High Road, Trimley St Mary, close to where she lived.

She had left home the previous evening to go to the Bandbox nightclub in Bent Hill, Felixstowe, with a friend.

The pair stayed at the club until 01:00 BST the next morning.

After getting some food at the Bodrum Grill in Undercliff Road West, they began to walk home and parted at 02:20 near the junction of High Road and Faulkeners Way - just yards from Victoria's home.

The next day her parents discovered she had not returned home. Five days later her body was foundby a dog walker in Creeting Lane, Creeting St Peter - about 25 miles away from where she was last seen.

Suffolk Police reopened the case - known as Operation Avon - in 2019 and revealed "fresh information had been received that was not previously known".

In July, a man was arrested on suspicion of her murder and later released by police pending further inquiries.

The force said the man, who had not previously been arrested as part of the inquiry, remained under investigation.

It said it was "pursuing several lines of enquiry", which included reviewing all material gathered since 1999 and "exploring new opportunities to secure evidence".

Det Ch Supt Andy Smith said the force's thoughts were with Victoria's family on the anniversary of her death and it was "absolutely committed to ending their long wait for justice".

"I want to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone with information about Victoria's murder who has not yet come forward, to do the right thing and contact us," he said.

"Our investigation has made significant progress, but we need the public's support and assistance.

"If you have any information, no matter how insignificant this may seem, we want to hear from you."

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