The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Police believe the body of a 17-year-old girl murdered by her dad could still be in the Cowbit area and are continuing to appeal for anyone who may have information to come forward so officers can help give her a proper funeral.
This week Scott Walker was found guilty of killing Bernadette Walker, known as Bea, despite no body being found.
Bea was last seen on Saturday, July 18 last year and police carried out an extensive search of the Cowbit area as part of the initial investigation.
A senior officer involved in the case said there could be further searches for Bea’s body in South Lincolnshire.
A six-week trial held at Cambridge Crown Court heard that the final sighting of the teenager was when Walker collected her from his parents’ home in Peterborough. She stayed there after making allegations of sexual abuse against the man she knew as dad. Her mum hadn’t believed her, according to the teenager’s diary.
Neither Walker, not her biological father, nor Bea’s mother Sarah Walker reported her missing until July 21.
In the early hours of the day before, the court heard, they had spent a couple of hours in and around the Cowbit area for a trip which police said was ‘unexplainable.’
While their phones were turned off, messages were sent from Bea’s phone from the Cowbit area and passwords to social media accounts were changed.
The couple were seen on camera at Applegreen Service Station, on the A16 south of Spalding, at 1.20am.
Their car was also picked up by number plate recognition systems east of Market Deeping at 1.40am and spotted near Glinton before heading back to Peterborough at around 3am.
A jury found Walker guilty of murder and a further charge of perverting the course of justice.
Sarah Walker admitted charges of perverting the course of justice, one of which related to her pretending to be Bea in messages sent by phone while in the Cowbit area.
DI Justine Jenkins, of the Major Crimes Unit, said: “We are still looking to hear from anybody who may have seen anything from what was an unusual journey that night.
“There’s still the possibility that further searches could be made in and around Cowbit.
“Scott Walker is to be sentenced on September 10. Our thoughts would be that it would help him ahead of that sentencing if he could tell us where she’s buried.
“It was a really challenging investigation, particularly with having not recovered Bernadette’s body.
“That is still our aim and we’d like to help give Bernadette a proper burial and funeral for her friends and other family members.”
