Parents DNA-tested in ‘Thai bride’ cold case Published duration 27 January 2019

image copyright Family photo/DONLAWAT SUNSUK image caption Lamduan Seekanya's family say they have not heard from her since 2004

DNA samples have been taken from a Thai couple who believe their daughter may be the woman whose body was found on a hillside in England 14 years ago.

The body was discovered in a stream near Pen-y-ghent, in the Yorkshire Dales, in 2004.

Police said she may have been a "Thai bride". On Thursday a Thai couple came forward to say they believed she may be their daughter, Lamduan Seekanya.

Analysis of the samples taken by Thai officials is due to take several days.

The results of the tests will then be sent to the UK for comparison, said Setthinaree Veness, the president of the Thai Women Network in the UK, who is working with the family.

The couple, Joomsri Seekanya, 72, and her husband Buasa, told a news conference last week their daughter married a British man in 1991 and moved to north-west England shortly after.

image copyright Setthinaree Veness image caption DNA samples were taken from husband and wife Buasa and Joomsri Seekanya (centre)

image copyright DONLAWAT SUNSUK/BBC THAI image caption Buasa (left) and Joomsri Seekanya have not heard from their daughter since 2004

The family, from Udon Thani, in north-east Thailand, said they had not heard from her since 2004.

Mrs Seekanya said: "A part of me hopes that it's not my daughter - I want her to come back alive. But if it's really her, I can finally sleep at night."

image copyright North Yorkshire Police image caption A police artist created an impression of how the woman may have looked

Cold-case investigators say they believe the woman found in the UK was murdered and dumped on the hillside.

Forensic tests suggest she was aged between 25 and 35, originally from south-east Asia and may have lived in north Lancashire or south Cumbria.

She was found more than a mile (2km) from the nearest road and was wearing only green jeans, socks and a gold wedding band.

image copyright Richard Hill image caption The woman's body was discovered by walkers when they stopped to take photos by a hillside stream

Speaking in October, Adam Harland, manager of the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Police cold case review team, said they believed the woman may have been a "Thai bride".

He said: "[It is possible] she is a lady who has taken up a relationship with a white gentleman, and come back to the UK."

On Friday, North Yorkshire Police confirmed it had received a possible name for the unknown woman and said inquiries were ongoing.