Jane Doe

Status:

Open

Recovery Location:

Goudhurst, Kent, England

Summary:

A woman found murdered in Bedgebury Forest, Kent in 1979, the victim remains unidentified decades later. The victim had been bludgeoned to death and died from massive head injuries. A man was charged with her murder, but he was later cleared in connection to her death. In late 2019, the victim was announced to have been identified by the Doe Network, but this appears to have been done in error.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Recovery:

The body was found by a woman riding on horseback through Bedgebury Forest on Tuesday, 23 October 1979. Despite being found on October 23, officers believe the body found next to the footpath had been there for as many as five days before being found. Examinations found she had suffered a number of severe head injuries as a result of a beating. A blood stained wooden stake found near the body was identified as the murder weapon. No possessions such as a handbag or purse were ever discovered. She was found with devastating head wounds in woodlands - she had been suffering an agonising ectopic pregnancy at the time of her death. Evidence of an ectopic pregnancy, which had been present for 4-6 weeks.

Additional Details:

After the discovery the police searched the missing persons databases at New Scotland Yard and the UK Social Services. Hospitals and doctors surgeries were also polled for persons who matched the description of the woman. A large poster campaign was launched throughout the UK and Europe. All of these investigative efforts failed to produce a match to the woman's identity. In December 1984, the victim was featured on an episode of the BBC TV programme Crimewatch. In October 1998, the case was reopened after an investigation by forensic scientists on archived evidence. The victim's case was highlighted in the national media as one of a number of such cases that had been reopened due to a new DNA technique that enabled the generation of DNA profiles from much smaller samples than had been previously possible. Harry Pennells, 75, a retired lorry driver of Springfields in Ticehurst, East Sussex, was arrested and charged with murder in January 1999. In May 2000 he went on trial at Maidstone Crown Court, with prosecutors claiming the murdered woman's blood was discovered inside his cab. David Fisher QC, prosecuting, alleged Mr Pennells had given her a ride as he made a delivery to Keighley, West Yorkshire, before bringing her back down to the south of England the next morning. A jury found Pennells not guilty after just an hour-and-a-quarter of deliberations. In October 2007, the charity Missing People appealed to the public for someone to come forward and identify the woman. Unfortunately this did not result in any progress. The body of a second woman was also discovered in Bedgebury Forest in 1982. The killer of 46-year-old Jean Brook has also never been caught. The mother-of-three was found beaten to death in the undergrowth just a mile from where the first body was discovered in 1979.

Case Last Updated:

Sep 13, 2026