Latvian teenager identified in Sandringham murder case
Police identify the body of the teenage girl found on the Queen’s Sandringham estate as Alisa Dmitrijeva from Latvia.
The 17-year-old’s body was found at Anmer, near King’s Lynn, on Tuesday by a dog walker on new year’s day.
Alisa’s family said in a brief statement: “We are devastated by the news of Alisa’s death. We wish to grieve in private and don’t want to speak with anyone from the press at this time.”
Earlier this week, Alisa’s mother Anzela Dmitrijeva told newspapers Alisa had changed a great deal since moving to Britain in 2009.
Mrs Dmitrijeva said Alisa had been arrested in April “for stealing something with a group of friends, even though she assured me that she wasn’ taking part in it”.
“She started taking drugs. I knew that as well,” she told The Daily Mail. Mrs Dmitrijeva said she blamed herself for moving to Britain a year ahead of her family, leaving Alisa at home in Latvia.
“Eighty-five per cent of the guilt for what has happened to her is on me. When I left for Britain three years ago, seeking a better financial situation for me and my family, Latvia was facing a bad time with the economy and there was a necessity for me to find a job. I know now I should have taken her and family with me and not left them behind.”
Alisa, who went missing in August, was identified by comparing detail from her palm with records held which have been further verified by DNA from her femur.
Detective Chief Inspector Jes Fry, head of the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team, and who is leading the investigation into the murder case said: “Family Liaison Officers have been sent to meet with close family this morning to provide the update. I shall now be liaising with officers from Cambridgeshire who have been working on trying to locate Alisa in recent months as a missing person. The information they provide will give me and the team an extra focus to the enquiry.”
“I should add we are still trying to establish any activity which took place on or around the site during the time frame of the end of August to the end of September 2011.
“We would like to identify people who may have worked in that area or were involved in organising or running any specific events that may have taken place.”
Anyone with any information relating to the incident should contact the Joint Norfolk and Suffolk Major Investigation Team at Norfolk Constabulary on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.