Aged only 14, she was described as popular, talented and lively by her headmaster. She played the piano, clarinet and saxophone, was a keen basketball player and a regular churchgoer. All this came to a tragic end for Kate Bushell when she was murdered while taking her Jack Russell for an early evening walk on Saturday, November 15th, 1997.
Kate said she would be gone only 20 minutes. When she failed to return from the walk her parents raised the alarm. Mr. Bushell was showing a policeman his daughters likely route down a muddy lane 300 yards from their home when he found her fully-clothed body in a field near a stile.
Kate, who lived in Exeter, was killed with a sharp instrument, probably a knife, and police believe she may have been sexually assaulted.