A man has been arrested over 20 years after a Thai woman was mysteriously found dead by walkers in the Yorkshire Dales.
The 61-year-old was arrested on Saturday on suspicion of murdering Lamduan Armitage, who whose body was discovered on 20 September 2004.
The body of Ms Armitage, who would now be 55, wearing just socks and jeans, was found by a group of hikers.
The friends had posed for a picture on the Pennine Way between Pen-y-ghent and Horton in Ribblesdale, when they noticed a body in the stream.
She was identified only 15 years later when her parents in Udon Thani, Thailand, saw a BBC News report about her death and contacted North Yorkshire Police.
A post-mortem examination established she had died between one and three weeks before her body was found, but it could not determine how she died.
There was no sign of violence and hypothermia was ruled out, but detectives could not answer two main questions; who she was or how she met her death.
A cold case review was started in 2016 and scientific advances meant police were able to piece together a more detailed picture of who she was and concluded she had been killed.
It emerged she was living in northern England at the time of her death and was married with three children, having previously lived in Portsmouth, Rugby and Preston.
Police travelled to Thailand in February last year to speak to Ms Armitage’s parents Buasa and Joomsri Seekanya, after an almost four-year delay due to Covid.
Ms Armitage was buried the same year in Horton in Ribblesdale, after villages raised money for her funeral.
The name on her gravestone is “The Lady of the Hills”, a moniker she was known by locally, and family liaison officers handed a memorial book to her parents during their visit.
A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Lamduan Armitage in 2004. He remains in police custody for questioning.
“We strongly urge the media and public to refrain from speculation about the case to ensure fair justice can be delivered in line with the Contempt of Court Act 1981.
“Where we believe there have been breaches of contempt laws, we have the option of referring them to the Attorney General’s Office to consider.
“We also urge the media to respect the rights and privacy of those connected to the case, including family members.”
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact the Cold Case Review Unit at North Yorkshire Police, quoting reference number 12170002439.
