A NEW documentary investigates the tragic murder of “Little Miss Nobody” whose body was found wrapped in a blanket after nobody searched for her for eight years.
The body of 15-year-old Karen Price was found by five builders as they started work at a house in Cardiff on the morning of December 7, 1989.
A landmark case for facial reconstruction in solving crimes[/caption]
The grim discovery was made a staggering eight years after the teenager was last seen.
Karen had been in care since the age of 10, and tragically, during this time, no one had come looking for her.
She sadly had been dubbed “Little Miss Nobody”.
Karen had been murdered, wrapped in a carpet and buried in a shallow grave near the door to a basement flat along Fitzhamon Embankment in Cardiff.
A new Channel 5 documentary tells the story of how detectives, working without modern DNA tools, used a combination of forensics and old-fashioned detective work to identify Karen and catch her killers.
In the documentary, retired detective Paul Fenton, one of the first on the scene, recalled the moment they realised the death was suspicious.
Investigating insect activity also gave police an indication of the time of her death.
They found blowfly larvae in the carpet, which showed she must have been killed between April and October, when the eggs are laid.
Karen’s skeletal remains showed she had been tied at the wrists, with a plastic bag over her head.
Police used dental analysis to estimate her age and gender.
Forensic dentist Professor David Whittaker noticed a pink tint on her teeth, a sign of violent death due to blunt force trauma.
Despite searching missing persons reports across the UK, detectives initially found no match.
Desperate to find a clue, they asked facial reconstruction expert Richard Neave to create a clay model of her face, based on her skull.
The image was shown on TV, and a breakthrough followed: two social workers recognised her and gave police Karen’s name.
Karen had run away from a care home in her early teens and had fallen in with a dangerous crowd in central Cardiff.
Eventually, her dental records were found, confirming her identity once and for all.
A tip-off from a Crimewatch viewer led police to Idris Ali, who was also 15 or 16 and had been friends with Karen at the time.
He told detectives she had been taken to a party at the flat, where her body was found.
The flat belonged to Alan Charlton, a local bouncer who was known for pimping out young girls.
There, she and another teenager were asked to undress for photos.
When Karen tried to defend the other girl, she was attacked and fatally injured.
Both Idris and Alan Charlton were arrested and Charlton was later jailed for life for murder.
Idris, who initially received a murder conviction, had it reduced to manslaughter and served less than four years.
In 2016, Charlton’s appeal was dismissed. He remains in prison and has never admitted guilt.
Reflecting on the case, former detective Fenton said: “We didn’t have DNA, CCTV or social media. All we had was basic, good police work.”
The case is now seen as a landmark in forensic history, particularly for the use of facial reconstruction in solving crimes.
Karen Price was found at the back of a property in Fitzhamon Embankment, Cardiff[/caption]
Idris Ali was convicted of the murder of Karen Price before the charge was reduced to manslaughter but was later released[/caption]
