New image of woman killed in 1975 released by investigators
Investigators trying to identify a woman who was killed while walking barefoot on the A1 50 years ago have released a picture of what she may have looked like.
The mystery of so-called 'Baldock Woman' could be a step closer to being solved after researchers also revealed what they believe could have been her name.
She was last seen in February 1975 walking without shoes along the A1 outside the market town of Baldock in Hertfordshire when she was hit by at least one car.
Even after 50 years, we are confident that someone out there can help provide the one important clue that can help us reunite Baldock Woman with her identity
Mark Greenhalgh, Locate International
She was found without any shoes but, because her feet were not dirty, it is not thought she had been barefoot for long.
Volunteer investigators with Locate International, a charity which investigates cold cases, have worked with a couple who think they knew her in the 1970s and produced new images by a forensic artist who recreates images of the unknown dead.
The couple first came forward after an appeal in June 2010 and identified her as a French woman believed to be between 23 and 25 going by the name of either Anna or Odile.
Investigators with the charity have now found a mention of the name Odile Ledoux with a similar description in the Cambridge Evening News on November 25, 1972.
A charity spokesman said: 'This is potentially a major development in the investigation and we would appeal to anyone who recognises the name to come forward. But until all lines of inquiry are ruled out, we will continue to investigate all leads.'
'Baldock Woman' stayed with the couple in the early 70s and they said she was a regular at the Stotfold Social Club near Baldock and worked at an industrial estate in nearby Henlow, Bedfordshire before travelling to study at a language school in Cambridge.
The article stated Odile Ledoux was an English student at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, now Anglia Ruskin University, and lived on Sturton Street in Cambridge.
The team working on the case believe she was from or had lived in the north of Paris and had friends in Newquay, Cornwall.
Mark Greenhalgh, the charity's chief executive officer, said: 'Even after 50 years, we are confident that someone out there can help provide the one important clue that can help us reunite Baldock Woman with her identity.
'The window to do so is closing, however. If she was alive today, she would be in her late 60s to mid 70s, so we are eager for people to come forward before it is too late.
'For years, our volunteers have worked diligently to identify Baldock Woman. Just one clue, however small, can help progress our investigation, or send it in a new direction, so please come forward.'
The charity is now actively investigating the name Odile Ledoux along with the name Anne, Anna or a variation thereof and ask for anyone with information to get in touch by emailing appeals@locate.international, calling 0300 102 1011 or visiting https://locate.international/appeals/baldock-woman.
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