Newly uncovered photographs depict an unnamed woman who met her tragic fate 50 years ago after being hit by a vehicle while walking along a busy roadway.
Locate International, a non-profit organization dedicated to solving cold cases involving missing and unidentified individuals, reported that the woman was struck by one or more cars on the A1 highway near Baldock, Hertfordshire, during the early morning hours of February 18, 1975.
Despite repeated efforts to identify her, her name remains a mystery. However, in 2010, authorities found evidence suggesting she might have hailed from France and lived in Paris.
According to Hertfordshire Police, “We never completely close cases of unsolved murder or unexplained deaths. Any information we receive will be taken very seriously by our Cold Case team.”
When the woman’s body was discovered on the southbound side of the A1, close to the A507 exit, she was barefoot and had clean feet.
Following a public appeal in June 2010 that included a facial reconstruction image, a couple stepped forward claiming to recognize her as a young French woman who had stayed with them in the early 1970s.
David Liversedge met her in 1972 while she was hitchhiking on London’s North Circular road amid a thunderstorm.
She subsequently stayed with David and his wife, Barbara, at their residence near Baldock and introduced herself as Odile.
Employed in souvenir production at Plug International, situated in an industrial area of Henlow, Bedfordshire, she frequently visited Stotfold Social Club and had acquaintances in Newquay, Cornwall.
She later moved to Cambridge to attend a language school.
Locate International has also found a November 25, 1972, article in the Cambridge Evening News that mentions an Odile Ledoux, a 20-year-old French student of English residing in Cambridge who was reported safe after a house fire incident.
“With this new development, we are now actively pursuing information regarding the name Odile Ledoux, both in the UK and France,” a representative from Locate International stated.
Furthermore, the charity received a report from a milkman who had offered her a ride shortly before her death, noting that she seemed anxious or frightened.
Locate International also posits that she may have faced physical harm leading up to her demise.
Witness testimony suggests she might have been using the names Anne, Anna, or some variant, along with Odile.
Mark Greenhalgh, CEO of Locate International, stated, “If she were alive today, she would be in her late 60s to mid-70s, so we are hoping people will come forward before it’s too late.”
