Prisoner Arrested Over 30-year-old Murder of Girl who Disappeared After Buying Cornflakes

A serving prisoner has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 13-year-old Lindsay Jo Rimer, who was killed more than 30 years ago.

Lindsay, from Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, disappeared on the evening of November 7, 1994, after going out to buy a box of cornflakes. Her body was discovered five months later in the Rochdale Canal, but her killer has never been identified.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed yesterday that a man has been arrested at an undisclosed UK prison, where he is currently serving a sentence for unrelated offences. He is being interviewed over two days and is expected to be bailed and returned to custody while inquiries continue.

Detectives are now re-approaching potential witnesses, primarily in the Hebden Bridge and Halifax areas, who have been identified as part of the ongoing investigation.

Det Ch Insp James Entwistle, the senior investigating officer, said: "We remain firmly committed to doing everything we can to get justice for Lindsay and to give her family the answers they still so desperately need after all these years.

"The arrest we have made today comes as a result of our continued focus on progressing the investigation. We are keeping Lindsay's family updated and, while we appreciate the understandable public interest the arrest will bring, we do not anticipate any immediate developments at this stage.

"Although it is now more than 30 years since Lindsay was murdered, we remain convinced there is someone out there who has vital information that could finally help ease her family's pain. We urge them to do the right thing and tell us what they know."

Lindsay, who lived with her parents and two sisters, was last seen at around 10.22pm on the night she vanished after visiting a local Spar shop near her home. She left carrying a box of cornflakes but never made it back.

Her disappearance was not discovered until the following morning when she failed to turn up for her paper round. Despite extensive searches, her body was not found until April 1995, around a mile upstream from the town centre at Rawden Mill Lock.

A post-mortem examination revealed that Lindsay had been strangled, and her body had been weighed down with a concrete block. The pathologist found no evidence of sexual assault.

In 2016, police announced they had obtained a potential DNA profile of Lindsay's suspected killer, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the long-running investigation.

Whitestone Solicitors