Sandringham Estate soil clue to woman's murder

The unique make-up of soil found on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate where the body of a young woman was found dumped could help track her killer, police said today.

Norfolk police revealed today that they had found the car in which the victim Alisa Dmitrijeva, was last seen in August last year. The body of the Latvian teenager who lived in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, was later discovered by a dog walker on the estate on January 1.

Officers are now trying to match the soil with samples taken from the car, which was recovered from a scrapyard in her home town.

The potential breakthrough came after a forensic palynologist – which examines spores and pollen - discovered that a sample of soil around the body had a very rare composition of fungi spores.

Detective Chief Inspector Jes Fry, who is leading the enquiry, said: “This may take several weeks to analyse and if a link is identified, it could be a significant step forward in the enquiry.”

He said former friends and associates of the teenager would be re-interviewed in the coming days.