The mother of murdered schoolboy Rikki Neave will sit glued to her television tonight at her Cambridgeshire home as BBC Crimewatch reveal new clues – and more details of a £10,000 Crimestoppers reward- in the bid to find his killer.
Throughout the day Mrs Neave has been speaking about the latest developments in the case that she believes indicate the police are closing in on her son’s murderers.
“Police have amazingly supportive and I cannot thank them enough for keeping me informed – as best they can- of what has been happening,” she said.
Detectives have visited her to give her advance notice of new clues that will be revealed, publicly, for the time on the BBC.
“The evidence points overwhelmingly to what did happen that night Rikki was murdered,” she said. “I’m just hoping others come forward and confirm what the programme will reveal.”
Police have told her of the extensive inquiries conducted since the case was re-opened this summer that have included visiting many parts of the country to re-interview witnesses.
“They told me many people, over the years, have of course moved on – and in some instances moved right away,” she said. “They have been to places such as Manchester and Liverpool to reinterview people who gave statements at the time.”
I will be with Mrs Neave and her husband Gary tonight as the programme is aired and live blog both their reaction to it and provide updates as they are released by police.
Some of the most extensive – and expensive- forensic tests ever carried out by Cambridgeshire detectives have been given the green light in a bid to find the killer of six-year-old Rikki Neave.
Rikki’s mother Ruth has been told of the technology being applied by a team of 30 detectives brought together to solve the mystery of how he met his death 21 years ago.
A reconstruction of the six-year-old’s last-known movements will be shown in the programme which will be aired on BBC1 at 9pm. It will include an interview with one of Rikki’s siblings, who has chosen not to be identified, and his mother, Ruth.
Rikki was last seen leaving for school at around 8.30am on Monday, November 28, 1994, from his home in Redmile Walk, Welland.
He is believed to have been wearing grey trousers, a white shirt, black shoes and a blue coat.
Rikki’s body was found the following day in a wooded area off Eye Road, close to Willoughby Court - five minutes’ walk from his house in the Welland Estate.
A post mortem examination concluded that Rikki had died as a result of a compression of the neck – strangulation.
The following day, Wednesday November 30, officers searching Willoughby Court found Rikki’s clothing – grey trousers, a white shirt, black shoes and a blue coat – in a wheelie bin.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Wall, from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit, said: “Over the past few months since the relaunch of this murder investigation we have made significant progress in understanding Rikki’s last movements.
“We are also revisiting original forensic work and are excited with the progress due to the advances in forensics over the past 21 years. “We still strongly believe the key to finding whoever killed Rikki lies with the public and we hope that this national appeal through Crimewatch will reach someone who hasn’t yet come forward but who has information about Rikki’s murder.
“As well as people living on the estate at the time of Rikki’s murder we are also keen to hear from anyone who worked on the estate and had regular contact with people living there, such as social workers, housing officers and GPs.
“Are you in possession of any information as to who committed this murder, do you have any suspicions over those who you had interactions with on the estate or elsewhere in 1994.”
Officers from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit will be on the Welland Estate today (November 16) and tomorrow (November 17) handing out appeal leaflets and talking to local residents.
If you have information, please contact police on 01480 425882 or email operation.mansell@cambs.pnn.police.uk.
Alternatively, you can give information anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
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