INVESTIGATORS have made a major breakthrough in the hunt for a woman who was killed 50 years ago.
The so-called “Baldock Woman” died while walking barefoot on the A1 outside the market town of Baldock in Hertfordshire on February 18, 1975.
Her life and the circumstances surrounding her death have largely remained a mystery, but investigators have now released a picture of what she may have looked like as well as her name.
She was last seen walking without shoes just outside the historic town before she was hit by at least one vehicle.
It is not thought she had been barefoot for long as the soles of her feet were not dirty.
Volunteers working with Locate International, a charity which investigates cold cases, have been communicating with a couple who may have know the woman at the time she was killed.
A forensic artist has used the information gathered to produce images of what she may have looked like.
The couple said she was a French national between 23 and 25 who went by the name of either Anna or Odile.
Investigators then pored through local news archives and found an article which mentioned the name Odile Ledoux who matched the description from November 25, 1972 in the Cambridge Evening News.
A charity spokesman said: “This is potentially a major development in the investigation and we would appeal to anyone who recognises the name to come forward.
“But until all lines of inquiry are ruled out, we will continue to investigate all leads.”
“Baldock Woman” stayed with the couple in the early 70s and they said she was a regular at the Stotfold Social Club near Baldock and worked at an industrial estate in nearby Henlow, Bedfordshire before travelling to study at a language school in Cambridge.
The article stated Odile Ledoux was an English student at Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, now Anglia Ruskin University, and lived on Sturton Street in Cambridge.
The team working on the case believe she was from or had lived in the north of Paris and had friends in Newquay, Cornwall.
Mark Greenhalgh, the charity’s chief executive officer, said: “Even after 50 years, we are confident that someone out there can help provide the one important clue that can help us reunite Baldock Woman with her identity.
“The window to do so is closing, however.
“If she was alive today, she would be in her late 60s to mid 70s, so we are eager for people to come forward before it is too late.
“For years, our volunteers have worked diligently to identify Baldock Woman.
“Just one clue, however small, can help progress our investigation, or send it in a new direction, so please come forward.”
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