97 new leads in Milly murder probe

12 April 2012

Detectives investigating the murder of Milly Dowler are pursuing 97 new leads as they hope to finally catch her killer.

Officers made a fresh appeal for information after prime suspect Levi Bellfield was convicted of murdering two young women.

They hope some of the former doorman's criminal associates will finally break the wall of silence that has hampered their six-year inquiry.

A Surrey Police spokeswoman said some of the calls are "potentially significant" and officers are pleased with the wave of new information.

Milly Dowler, 13, disappeared while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in 2002.

Bellfield was told this week he will die in jail after being found guilty of murdering students Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22.

Police linked Bellfield to Milly's abduction because his girlfriend lived nearby and they are desperate to trace her car after it was captured on CCTV at the scene.

It is also believed Bellfield may have known Milly as the daughter of a former girlfriend of his once went to school with her.

Senior detectives believe Bellfield was a sexual predator who could be linked to at least 20 other violent attacks on women.

Bellfield prowled around bus stops and followed buses late at night looking for young blonde women on their own. He would follow them, offer them lifts and, if they turned him down, react with rage.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in