US Police's inventive bid to solve schoolgirl's cold case murder
In a fresh attempt to solve a 45-year-old cold case police in the US have used Twitter to give a voice to a young murder victim.
Linda Ann O'Keefe was abducted and strangled on June 6, 1973, while walking home from summer school in Newport Beach, California.
The 11-year-old was last seen speaking to a man driving a turquoise van before her tiny body was dumped in bushland, still wearing the homemade dress her mother had sewn her.
Now, almost half a century later, detectives have been able to process DNA evidence left at the scene, helping them make a new break in the case.
In the 48 hours since Friday, Newport Police detailed in an emotional string of posts the schoolgirl's final hours, from a fight she had with her mother who told her to walk home from school, to the discovery of her body by a man undertaking nature research.
Through the messages, Linda described herself as a quiet, shy, child. "My parents say I’m ‘sensitive’, which I think means that I’m an easy crier. It’s true".
The thread, which gained so much traction online it was converted into a Twitter moment, then detailed how the last known sighting of the schoolgirl was by a woman named Janine and her mother, Marguerite.
The pair saw her standing by the passenger side of a turquoise van. By the time they relayed this to police it was too late.
A desperate search in the hours since school had finished by family, friends, volunteers and police failed to find the young girl.
It was not until the next morning Linda was found in a ditch less than a kilometre from her home.
Detectives have brought the case to light 45 years on as they have a new lead which they hope may finally help them crack the case and bring justice to Linda's family.
From DNA left at the scene by the killer, officers have been able to create an image of what the man believed to be responsible might look like today.
Authorities are asking anyone who has had their memory jogged by the image or story to contact them.
