It was Friday, 5th October 1979. A little after 1:00 pm, 58-year-old taxi driver Jack Armstrong was dispatched to pick up "Mr Williams" from outside the Fairwater Hotel pub in the west of Cardiff. 45 minutes later, the cab company radioed Jack but received no reply. At 6:00 that evening, Jack's taxi was found abandoned almost thirty miles away in a county lane on the outskirts of Bridgend. There was no sign of Jack, but the interior of the vehicle was covered in blood. Two days later, Jack's battered body was discovered 7 miles away on a desolate common. A forensic review announced in 2026 hopes to finally bring the killer to justice. 

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South Wales Police Public Portal

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Late at night on Thursday, 18th November 1943, an unconscious woman was found lying on her back in a lane in the Brynmill area of Swansea. Rather than seeking medical help, a police officer took her to a hotel to recuperate, but, within a matter of minutes, she had died. 

At first, the identity of the woman was a mystery, but the post-mortem determined her death had been the result of foul play. Key witnesses then came forward and told of the bizarre and harrowing events of that night. 

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Retired couple Warren and Elizabeth Wheeler lived a simple, quiet life in the picturesque village of Boars Hill, Berkshire. In the middle of the day on October 8th 1973, a person or persons unknown gained entry to their ramshackle farm cottage and brutally bludgeoned both elderly pensioners to death. A massive police investigation took place, and a man was arrested and confessed to the double murder. It appeared the case was cut and dried, yet evidence would lead to a very different conclusion.  

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In March 1988, on the eve of her 18th birthday, Donna Healey left her family home in Bradford for the last time. She was never seen alive by her loved ones again. More than 15 years later, a DNA breakthrough would reveal Donna's fate and raise serious questions about the treatment of missing vulnerable young people.

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Early in the morning of September 16th 1989, the battered body of 25-year-old Trevor Metcalfe was found on playing fields in Dormanstown, near Middlesbrough. This was a location Trevor had no known ties to, and police were puzzled as to what led him there.

Following a family tragedy, Trevor had developed a solvent addiction, and he was attacked and killed while he was intoxicated and at his most vulnerable. His killer or killers showed him no mercy and beat him while he lay defenceless on the ground.

Over the years, there have been numerous leads, as well as several anonymous letters and calls to local police. Still, the most chilling development was a message painted on a changing block close to the murder scene, which read "Catch me if you can".

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George Barksdale was just four years old when he disappeared from Baltimore, Maryland in April 1969. The little boy was last seen sitting on the steps of a church opposite his home. One lead suggests he may have been taken by a 70 year old woman. Three years later, on April 1st 1972, three year old Solomon Rose vanished during a trip to a shopping mall in West Baltimore. He has not been seen since and is believed to have been abducted.

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Through the 1970s and 1980s, Mary Joe Frug was a well-respected and prominent law academic. As a part of the Critical Legal Studies movement, she looked to analyse the legal system from a feminist perspective. On the evening of April 4th 1991, the 49-year-old was walking to a convenience store in an upmarket neighbourhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when she was set upon and viciously stabbed to death. A man in his early twenties was seen fleeing from the scene but has never been identified. Investigators were baffled regarding a motive and could not determine if the slaying had been a random act or if Mary Joe had been specifically targeted. Several avenues continue to be explored by cold case detectives, including the possibility that the murder was connected to her work or private life.

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Hannah Williams, a 78-year-old widow, lived with her daughter, Elizabeth, in an isolated cottage six miles from Cardiff. On the morning of Saturday November 10th 1900, Elizabeth walked to market to sell produce from their smallholding. Hannah stayed behind, busying herself with some household chores. When Elizabeth returned that afternoon she was met by neighbours on the road who informed her that Hannah was dead. This had not been due to natural causes or even an accident, but by bloody violence. Hannah had been bludgeoned with a coal hammer and her throat slashed while darning a sock in her own kitchen. Well over a century later Hannah's story and its many unanswered questions still resonate.

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Abdur Rashid was a 46 year old Muslim spiritual teacher who came to the UK from Bangladesh in the late 1970s. Abdur lived and worked in London's East End and was known in the local community as a good man. In April 1988 Abdur was murdered with a sharp instrument and his body dumped in Epping Forest. The killer set the body alight, an act that is forbidden in Islam and one that is considered dishonorable. Police managed to piece together some clues but were at a loss as to the motive for such a cold blooded crime. The crime soon disappeared from the headlines as the investigation drew blanks.

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Christina or Christine Bracken was a 39 year old  nun, originally from Ireland, who in the later part of 1978 moved to Swansea, Wales, to begin a new chapter in her life. After 6 months in Wales Christina, who went by her religious name Sister Jacinta, appeared to have settled in well and seemed happy. Shortly after lunch on Saturday May 19th 1979 Sister Jacinta took a walk into the city centre to buy a birthday present for her mother. While there were a few sightings of  Sister Jacinta that day (both confirmed and unconfirmed), she was never seen by anyone at the convent again and seemingly vanished into thin air. There are numerous theories and rumours about what happened to Sister Jacinta, including a startling piece of information that surfaced just a decade ago.

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