[8] The police stated that the black and white patterned dress was the clue that was most likely to lead to the discovery of her identity.
[10] Additionally, the victim's lungs did not exhibit the carbon deposits typical of a city-dweller, indicating that she probably lived in the countryside.
[10] Police believe the woman was of no fixed address and was a regular hitchhiker along the M1 and M6 motorways and may have had a connection with the Vale of Evesham.
[8] After the discovery the police searched the missing persons databases at New Scotland Yard and the UK Social Services.
[7] However, after specks of blood found in his lorry in 1979 were re-examined and linked to the victim police were able to make their arrest.
The woman, who was from Stratford-upon-Avon, stated that she had given the dress to a charity shop in Evesham, Worcestershire after which police could not trace it.
[11] It appeared to have been subsequently altered to shorten the length, remove the zip from the back and add a black lace ruff to the collar.
[7] Pennells was accused of picking up the victim at Spitalfields Market on 19 October 1979,[6] taking her in his lorry to a delivery in Keighley, West Yorkshire, then back to drop her off in South London on the morning of 20 October[6] and beating the victim to death with a wooden stake.
[6] Witnesses called by the prosecution stated that they had seen a woman matching the victim's description in Bedgebury Forest on 21 October 1979, the day after some estimations placed the murder.
[5] Staff at the Henley Transport's Rochdale depot also stated that they saw Pennells with a woman with a similar appearance to an artist's impression made of the victim.
[5] Samples of blood and flakes of hair found in a sleeping bag on the passenger seat of the lorry matched the DNA profile of the victim.
[7][5] The trial lasted for four weeks, after which Pennells was found not guilty[1] in a unanimous decision made after the jury deliberated for 1 hour and 15 minutes.