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walking home along the path and into the woods, but not come out again. The last person who reported seeing her was Hubert Hoyles, then 13, who passed her on the path returning from her family farm, where he had gone to buy eggs. Her mother later went to the village to look for her when she did not return home; more than a dozen men from the area began a search.
158:
Morgans) Drinkwater. On 27 June 1946, Muriel took the school bus home from
Gowerton Grammar School. She was last seen at 2:30 p.m., singing as she headed for the one-mile walk to her family's home, Tyle-Du Farm. The path she walked home on curved in and out of the woods; her mother saw her
231:
In 2003, detectives re-opened the case in the hope of finding DNA evidence on the gun, but were not successful as too many people had handled the weapon. It was believed the victim's clothes had been lost. However, in 2008, a team of retired detectives investigating
139:
in the United
Kingdom. In 2008, a DNA profile of the suspect was extracted from Drinkwater's clothes, possibly the oldest sample in the world to be successfully extracted in a murder investigation. In 2019, the DNA was used to rule out notorious Welsh murderer
33:
279:(1906–1971) was responsible for the murders of both Martin and Drinkwater. However, in 2019, South Wales Police stated that forensic tests on the DNA "categorically confirm that Jones was not responsible for the murder of Muriel Drinkwater."
290:
suggested that Ronnie
Harries could be the murderer. Harries was hanged in 1954 for the double murder of John and Phoebe Harries. There is evidence that Harries was employed by Drinkwater's father, John, at the time of her death.
244:, but no match was found in the national DNA database. Hubert Hoyles, who saw Drinkwater after buying eggs at her parents' farm, was cleared by the DNA evidence after living under a "cloud of suspicion" for decades.
303:
closed off public access to the case, acting at the behest of
Scotland Yard. The public can no longer access the Drinkwater files by Freedom of Information Act requests or in person at the archives office in
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was circulated; he was described as approximately 30 years old, with "thick fluffy hair and wearing brown corduroy trousers and a light brown sports jacket." Police also circulated photos of the
236:
found
Drinkwater's clothes in storage. Her blue coat, underwear and school uniform had been wrapped in a paper bag and stored. On the back of the coat, a no-longer-visible
240:
stain was circled with yellow crayon. Scientists successfully retrieved a DNA profile from this stain. A familial DNA profile was extracted using a technique called
845:
185:, assisted by the 169th Bomb Disposal Unit, used a metal detector to search for a second weapon suspected to have been used, but never located it. Detectives from
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In 2009, Welsh police began reinvestigating any link with the murder of 11-year-old Sheila Martin, who was raped and strangled 250 miles away in Sun Hill Wood,
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had been used to modernise the original wooden stocks next to the grip. It was believed a similar weapon had been used in the murder of a cinema manager in
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216:. In August, the police appealed to the U.S. public for assistance, as many Americans had been stationed in Penllergaer during the recent
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260:, on 7 July 1946, ten days after Drinkwater's murder. Both girls were murdered in woods within a half mile of their homes.
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More than 3,000 mourners attended
Drinkwater's funeral on 2 July. She was buried at St David's Church in Penllergaer.
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Police visited every house within 150 square miles and interviewed 20,000 men in
Swansea and in neighbouring
703:"The chilling tale of a man who bludgeoned his relatives to death with a hammer and paid the ultimate price"
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about the head and shot twice in the chest. Two days later, police found one of the murder weapons, a
308:. The reason given for sealing the files was that it could help the police catch the perpetrator.
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74 years ago, Muriel
Drinkwater was murdered. Police are closer than ever to finding her killer
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Muriel Joan
Drinkwater was the youngest of four daughters born to John Percival and Margaret (
123:, is an unsolved 1946 child murder case from Wales. Drinkwater, a 12-year-old schoolgirl, was
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The next day, Drinkwater's body was found in the woods by a police inspector. She had been
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729:"The unsolved murder of 12-year-old Muriel Drinkwater and the new suspect identified"
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780:"Muriel Drinkwater murder file is declared secret at request of police"
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and there was a possibility one of the servicemen had sold the weapon.
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530:. Vnuk, Helen. Mamamia.com.au. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
381:"The Muriel Drinkwater case: can they crack the coldest murder case?"
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445:"Groundbreaking DNA test rules out childkiller in unsolved murder"
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577:"The unsolved murder of a 12-year-old brutally abused and killed"
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602:"Serial Slaying of Pretty Women Has New Scotland Yard Confused"
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655:"Detectives link Muriel Drinkwater and Sheila Martin murders"
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author Neil
Milkins theorised that notorious child murderer
299:In 2010, the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on
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89:
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39:
23:
551:"Secrecy over 1940 murder as DNA offers new leads"
325:, 1988 murder of Welsh girl solved by DNA in 2002
264:detectives requested the original case file from
189:came to Swansea to assist in the investigation.
318:List of unsolved murders in the United Kingdom
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679:Rees, Gwyneth; Davies, Jordan (1 May 2019).
504:"'I know who killed girl in woods in 1946'"
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20:
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354:"Marwolaeth merch yn parhau'n ddirgelwch"
471:"Hunt on for 80-year-old Swansea killer"
268:to determine if there was a connection.
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846:June 1946 events in the United Kingdom
681:"Who killed 'Little Red Riding Hood'?"
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16:Unsolved 1946 Welsh child murder case
7:
851:Incidents of violence against girls
811:1946 murders in the United Kingdom
414:Gabriel, Clare (5 November 2008).
14:
628:"DNA breakthrough on 1946 murder"
575:McConnell, Ed (17 October 2018).
502:McConnell, Ed (20 January 2018).
469:Turner, Robin (6 November 2008).
416:"Mystery of 1946 murder in woods"
135:. It is one of the oldest active
755:"Dark Land: Hunting the Killers"
608:. Associated Press. 29 July 1946
101:Percival and Margaret Drinkwater
841:Violence against women in Wales
653:O'Neill, Sean (23 March 2009).
549:Turner, Robin (31 March 2010).
379:O'Neill, Sean (24 March 2009).
342:1939 England and Wales Register
248:Harold Jones and Ronnie Harries
117:Llofruddiaeth Muriel Drinkwater
288:Dark Land: Hunting the Killers
271:For more than a decade, Welsh
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301:National Records and Archives
121:Little Red Riding Hood murder
443:Bevan, Nathan (1 May 2019).
109:murder of Muriel Drinkwater
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866:Unsolved murders in Wales
826:Deaths by person in Wales
127:and shot in the woods in
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148:Murder and investigation
323:Murder of Lynette White
85:gunshot and head injury
208:-issued gun; notably,
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66:27 June 1946 (aged 12)
44:Muriel Joan Drinkwater
861:Female murder victims
856:Child murder in Wales
200:. A description of a
119:), also known as the
606:The Montreal Gazette
82:Cause of death
816:1940s in Glamorgan
709:. 29 December 2017
262:South Wales Police
206:United States Army
202:person of interest
735:. 7 November 2020
634:. 4 November 2008
181:. Policemen from
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25:Muriel Drinkwater
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475:Wales Online
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449:Wales Online
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425:17 September
423:. Retrieved
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360:. 2 May 2019
356:(in Welsh).
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286:documentary
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277:Harold Jones
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142:Harold Jones
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93:28 June 1946
47:19 July 1933
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764:15 November
739:15 November
713:15 November
508:Kent Online
266:Kent Police
172:World War I
129:Penllergaer
70:Penllergaer
805:Categories
586:20 October
330:References
273:true crime
234:cold cases
168:bludgeoned
137:cold cases
51:Carmarthen
784:The Times
659:The Times
385:The Times
183:Glamorgan
98:Parent(s)
632:BBC News
420:BBC News
312:See also
194:Aberdare
176:Colt .45
284:BBC One
214:Bristol
210:perspex
133:Swansea
76:, Wales
74:Swansea
57:, Wales
664:3 July
513:3 July
179:pistol
790:3 May
687:3 May
683:. BBC
454:3 May
390:3 May
364:3 May
242:Y-STR
238:semen
174:-era
164:raped
125:raped
113:Welsh
792:2019
766:2020
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715:2020
689:2019
666:2018
640:2016
614:2016
588:2018
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515:2018
482:2016
456:2019
427:2016
392:2019
366:2019
258:Kent
196:and
107:The
63:Died
40:Born
759:BBC
306:Kew
155:née
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