TWO years ago, police and forensic scientists returned to Norton Barracks near Worcester, to carry out a fingerprint search in their 16-year hunt for missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh.

This is just one of many high profile murders which police have failed to solve - leaving the grieving families living in limbo.

Worcestershire has seen its fair share of murders in recent years.

Few have forgotten the image of the emergency payphone hanging from its receiver following the brutal murder of pregnant mum Marie Wilkes.

The 22-year-old, from Ambleside Drive, Warndon, was stabbed to death as she went for help after her car broke down on the M50 in June 1988.

Her killer is still on the lose after the man originally charged with her murder, Eddie Browning, was freed by the Appeal Court in 1994 after his conviction was said to be unsafe.

The ex-nightclub bouncer, from the Rhondda, received £75,000 compensation and a further £600,000 from the Home Office.

At the time of the payout, her sister, Dawn Hill, who lives in Worcester, said the cash would be better spent on catching the killer.

Mass murderer

Worcester MP Mike Foster said it was unlikely the killer would be found.

"So much time has passed that it's possible the killer will never be caught," he said.

One notorious killer who was caught and then took his own life before his case went to court was mass murderer Fred West.

West - along with his wife Rosemary, reputed to be a good friend of the late Myra Hindley - was charged with taking the life of 12 women including Worcestershire girls Carol Cooper and Shirley Hubbard.

However, mystery still surrounds the number of women West could have killed.

His son, Stephen, has said that his father used to boast from his prison cell how the body of waitress Mary Bastholm and others would remain undiscovered.

Six years ago West Mercia police hosted the launch of Operation Enigma that aimed to target unsolved murders.

More than 200 officers from every force in England and Wales converged on Hindlip Hall to co-ordinate the national strategy for dealing with the murder of 200 women in the past 10 years.

All the information from Operation Enigma is now dealt with at the National Criminal Intelligence Service in London.