Detectives investigating the murder of Inga Maria Hauser, a German backpacker whose body was found 14 years ago near Ballycastle, Co Antrim, yesterday confirmed that they have a DNA profile of her killer.
The 18-year-old student's murder is one of the longest unresolved crimes of its kind in Northern Ireland, but Det-Insp Sam Harkness, who is attached to Ballymoney police station, said that he and his team of investigators were still determined to bring the student's killer to justice.
Ms Hauser's body was found by a farmer in an isolated part of Ballypatrick Forest. She had arrived in Larne on a ferry from Scotland on April 6th, 1988. Two weeks later, her body was found.
Insp Harkness described the student's movements during her two weeks in Northern Ireland as a "mystery". He said: "We have no positive sightings of Inga during the time she was here. We don't know where she stayed, nor with whom, but I still believe someone holds a vital piece of information that could assist us in solving her murder.
"We have a DNA profile of a person who is a strong suspect in this case. Anyone who would come forward and match that DNA profile would be a very strong suspect in this case and would be questioned by ourselves. If someone has the information about this suspect, it would progress our investigations massively.
"The DNA system has been used to eliminate a number of suspects . . . I believe someone is shielding the killer. If someone acting out of character is missing for 14 days, someone - a relative, a friend or a work colleague - must be aware of that."