Backpacker's killer may have held her captive

A teenage German backpacker found murdered in the North almost 17 years ago may have been held against her will for up to 10 days before her death it emerged today.

The body of Inga Maria Hauser was discovered in a shallow grave at Ballypatrick Forest outside Ballycastle, Co Antrim, on April 21, 1988. Her neck had been broken.

Police have DNA of the person they believe may have murdered her and more than 300 people have been tested so far in an effort to find the brutal killer.

The 18-year-old had last been seen alive on the Stranraer to Larne ferry on April 6, 1988.

She had decided to make a 24-to-48 hour trip to have a look at Northern Ireland while visiting Britain and police believe she could have met her killer on the ferry over.

Hundreds of people on the ferry – including soldiers and lorry drivers – were questioned as part of a huge investigation.

Police believe she may have been held against her will for up to 10 days – if not she had been separated from her personal diary and camera which were found in her backpack discovered when the body was spotted by a forestry worker, according to sources.

There were no entries in her diary or photographs on film in her camera from the time she boarded the ferry.

With the anniversary of the discovery of her body this week, police asked clergymen in the Ballycastle area to make an appeal during services yesterday for information about the murder.

A PSNI spokesman said today they were “following a positive line of inquiry” into the murder.

He added: “We believe there may be those in the local community who can assist with this matter in order to bring this case to a close.”

Ms Hauser, from Munich, had travelled to the UK to visit a friend in Wales, but decided to go to Scotland and then Northern Ireland before seeing the friend in Cardiff.