City link in Thai mum death riddle
Police issue appeal for information on the life of The Lady of the Hills
POLICE are hoping the people of Portsmouth can unlock the secrets surrounding the death of a motherof-three from Thailand who lived in the city.
Lamduan Seekanya’s half-naked remains were discovered by walkers in the Yorkshire Dales in 2004. Her identity was only uncovered this year after she was known as The Lady of the Hills.
Now police want anyone who knows anything about her life to get in touch.
THE key to unlocking the secrets of a Portsmouth mother-of-three's mystery death that has perplexed police for 15 years could be held by people living in the city.
Lamduan Seekanya’s half-naked remains were discovered by walkers in the Yorkshire Dales in 2004 and her identity was only uncovered this year.
Known as The Lady of the Hills, she was identified after advances in technology gave a breakthrough as to where she was living before her death.
It has now emerged she lived with her husband David Armitage in Portsmouth for more than a decade.
The Sun revealed North Yorkshire Police are investigating the woman’s marriage to her 55-year-old husband David Armitage. There is no suggestion he is a suspect.
After Lamduan and her husband married in Thailand in January 1991 the pair moved in July to Portsmouth and had three children. Detectives are working with prosecutors to get permission to interview Lamduan’s family in Thailand and conduct other enquiries in the country.
But police now urgently want anyone who has information about her life to get in touch – includi n g anyone who knew her for the 12 years she lived in Portsmouth.
‘We are seeking information from anyone who knew Lamduan Armitage, nee Seekanya, or her family between 1991 and up to the time she died in September 2004,’ a spokeswoman said.
‘No matter how small or seemingly insignificant you think the information is, it could prove to be very important to help us establish details about Lamduan’s life and the circumstances surrounding her death. ‘ The couple moved to Rugby, in Warwickshire, in 2003 and then to Burton-in-Kendal in Cumbria. Lamduan visited Thailand in 2003-2004 but it is not clear where she went. A coroner recorded an open verdict into Lamduan’s death at an inquest in 2007. Several appeals, photographs and an artist’s impression released by police yielded few clues to track down who the woman was. Her fingerprints allowed Thai authorities to track down that she was Lamduan, originally from Udon Thani province in the north east of the country. Investigators have previously said they believe she may have been killed and transported to the stream in the Yorkshire Dales, possibly by a 4x4 vehicle.
Retired detective chief inspector Adam Harland has been leading a cold case review by North Yorkshire Police for several years.
The Sun tracked down Mr Armitage in Thailand. He is originally from Rugby. He told the newspaper: ‘I didn’t kill my wife. Absolutely not.’
Walkers had found Lamduan’s remains in Pennine Way, between Pen-y-ghent and Horton in Ribblesdale, on September 20, 2004.
Years later forensic evidence uncovered by stable isotype analysis, a technique not previously available, revealed she had chemical levels that could be found in few places. Cumbria and northern Lancashire were among those places.
Her mother Joomsri Seekanya, 73, and husband Buasa gave DNA samples to prove The Lady of the Hills was their daughter. She would now have been 51.
Anyone with information can visit mipp.police.uk or call police on 01609 643147.