THE grisly death of a 20-year-old woman remains unsolved despite a major breakthrough.
Elaine Wakefield’s body, clad only in a bra, was found near a motorcycle track two days after she was spotted leaving her home.
The CB radio enthusiast was tragically discovered close to the High Edge Raceway track in February 1982.
With the exception of her bra, the rest of her clothing was spotted strewn away in the remote hills 200 yards away.
Just six miles away from the scene of the incident, Elaine was living with her police boyfriend in Buxton, Derbyshire, at the time of her death.
The constable was cleared from the investigation and later moved away from the area and took a step back from the force.
Found with fatal neck injuries, police officers first revealed they were looking into several new lines of inquiry back in 2003.
Following developments in DNA analysis the murder inquiry was reopened.
That same year, Detective Chief Inspector Steve Cotterill of Derbyshire Police told how he believed Elaine had been murdered.
Although the coroner’s verdict was inconclusive, at the time it was thought that her injuries were indicative of such a tragic end to her life.
The last known sighting of the 20-year-old was on February 25 1982 as she left the flat shared with her boyfriend.
Several witnesses known to Elaine spoke of seeing her walk towards the raceway.
Others have told how the day was very cold with foggy conditions.
The post-mortem revealed she died as a result of compression to her neck and the original investigation looked at more than 1,000 enquiries.
No arrests were ever made and the lack of new leads has left the case inactive pending new information.
It is thought the case remains open but is not actively being pursued by officers.
The Sun has approached Derbyshire police force for comment.
