Man arrested for murder over mysterious Lady In The Hills death - victim had links to Preston

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A man has been arrested over the murder of a woman whose body was found at a beauty spot more than 20 years ago.

Lamduan Armitage's body was found by walkers at Sell Gill near Pen-y-ghent, above Horton in Ribblesdale, on September 20, 2004. She was known only as the 'Lady of the Hills' until early 2019, when North Yorkshire Police achieved a breakthrough using a combination of media coverage and DNA testing.

Lamduan had lived in multiple places in the UK since arriving from Thailand in 1991 with her teacher husband David, including Preston.

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According several reports, Mr Armitage, who is from Cumbria but who had lived in Thailand since her death, was arrested on suspicion of murder earlier this month when he returned to the UK after the Thai authorities revoked his resident visa.

Lamduan Armitage. Picture from North Yorkshire Police.Lamduan Armitage. Picture from North Yorkshire Police.
Lamduan Armitage. Picture from North Yorkshire Police.

Identification

A post-mortem examination established that Lamduan had died between one and three weeks before her body was found, but it could not determine how she died. There was no sign of violence and hypothermia was ruled out, but detectives could not answer two main questions; who she was or how she met her death.

A cold case review was started in 2016 and scientific advances meant police were able to piece together a more detailed picture of who she was and concluded she had been killed.

Then a BBC Online article about the case in the January 2019 was brought to the attention of Lamduan's parents in Udon Thani, north-east Thailand. They came forward to police believing the woman could be their daughter - who they had not seen since 2004.

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DNA testing was carried out which confirmed the woman to be Lamduan, who would now be aged 55. Officers then travelled to Thailand in 2023 to carry out enquiries.

The grave of Lamduan Armitage being tended by members of the Thai Women Network in the UK.The grave of Lamduan Armitage being tended by members of the Thai Women Network in the UK.
The grave of Lamduan Armitage being tended by members of the Thai Women Network in the UK. | Other 3rd Party

Arrest

Late on Saturday, North Yorkshire Police announced an arrest had been made. A statement said: "A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Lamduan Armitage in 2004. He remains in police custody for questioning.”

The police urged the media and public to refrain from speculation about the case to that fair justice can be delivered.

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