On the 19th of September, 1999, Victoria Hall (17) went missing on her way home from a nightclub in Felixstowe, Suffolk. She had left the club with her best friend,
then the girls said goodnight a few hundred yards from their respective homes.
Five days later on Friday the 24th September, a dog walker in Creeting St Peter, near Stowmarket saw what he initially thought was a dummy in a ditch. A report was made to the Police who discovered this to be the body of Victoria Hall.
There were no signs of sexual assault or strangulation, apart from a bruise on her back. Post-mortem tests showed she was probably suffocated.
Following an exhaustive investigation, a suspect was arrested on the18th of December 2000 who was subsequently charged with Victoria’s murder. He appeared in court in November 2001 where evidence was presented which relied heavily on the geological soil samples, a science over which both the prosecution and defence argued vociferously. The jury returned a Not Guilty verdict and the suspect was acquitted.
Current Investigation
A review of the forensic evidence has been carried out and the findings are subject of analysis to help provide direction to take the case forward.
Vicki’s clothing and personal belongings she had with her the last time she was seen alive have never been found. Details about some of Victoria’s personal belongings were disclosed as follows:
a black oval shaped New Look purse with a zip fastener, containing a house key on a distinctive fob with ‘Vicky’ across the top and ‘Victoria’ down the sides
a Rimmel lipstick in a black plastic case, the colour of which is believed to have been ‘Zorro’
the inner soles of one or both of Victoria’s shoes had been fixed with Sellotape.
CCTV footage was also released as part of last year’s renewed appeal which depicted individuals at the field in Creeting St Peter where Victoria’s body was found captured during the month following her death.