A 76-YEAR-OLD man was arrested yesterday after confessing that he kidnapped and killed a schoolgirl in a sex murder more than 40 years ago.
Kim Roberts, seven, vanished from her home in Stepney, East London, in March 1964, after going out to play at teatime. Her disappearance prompted a national search.
Her body was later found at a disused quarry 15 miles away at Purfleet, Essex, and a post-mortem examination showed she had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Yesterday as police began detailed questioning of the suspect the girl’s parents Joe and Pat Roberts, who are also in their 70s, were warned that after years of silence the case was being reopened and were joined by a family liaison officer. The man under arrest comes from the South Essex area but not from Purfleet, and police refused to give further details.
Detectives were yesterday trying to recover papers and evidence still held by Scotland Yard which could be used to corroborate the suspect’s claim. Police are also searching Yard and Essex police warehouses for the child’s clothing so that scientists can discover if a DNA match can be made with a sample from the suspect.
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Kim’s disappearance in March 1964 shocked the country. Three years earlier she had been badly scared when she was accosted by a man, and was known to be cautious. Her parents had also warned her about talking to strangers.
At the time Kim vanished her mother was pregnant. Her daughter asked if she could go out to play and was dressed in her school uniform of brown coat, gym slip and white blouse.
She had been playing with her elder brother, Steven, but he went indoors, leaving her outside on the forecourt of the family’s home.
She was last seen by another child at about 6.30pm but when she failed to return her father and neighbours began scouring the darkened streets. At the time of the murder detectives believed she might have been lured away by a man who offered her sweets and then bundled her into a vehicle.
Her body was found by two teenage boys hunting rabbits four days after she vanished. She had been left huddled in a ditch.
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Police at Purfleet were told by a local man that he saw a car in the area early in the morning the day after the child vanished.