DETECTIVES HUNTING the killer of a backpacker 20 years ago have made a breakthrough.
A male DNA sample taken from the Northern Ireland forest where Inga Maria Hauser’s body was found in 1988 has shown similarities with the profiles of a number of women stored on the UK genetic national database.
Police want to speak to these women to eliminate male relatives from their inquiries.
PSNI Det Supt Raymond Murray said: “We can infer from the way that DNA characteristics are inherited that there is a possibility, and no more than that, that in this small female group there is a male relative’s DNA profile which could match the DNA profile from the crime scene.”
Ms Hauser (18) was found dead in a remote part of Ballypatrick Forest on the outskirts of Ballycastle, Co Antrim, on April 20th, 1988. The German student had been subjected to a vicious assault.
She had travelled to Northern Ireland on April 6th, arriving in Larne on a ferry from Scotland. Police believe she died shortly afterwards.
Det Supt Murray said: “It is our duty to follow this line of inquiry for two reasons: firstly, to eliminate these individuals from the investigation; secondly and, most importantly, to ensure that we have done everything possible to apprehend the killer of a young woman whose life was taken from her in the most cruel circumstances.” – (PA)