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The long hunt for Milly's killer

Ben Bailey
6 Oct 2009


Here is a timeline of events surrounding the investigation into the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler:

2002
March 21: Milly vanishes while walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. When last seen she was wearing her school uniform - a dark blue blazer, grey skirt and white shirt - and carrying a beige rucksack.
March 24: Robert and Sally Dowler appeal for help in finding their daughter.
April 3: At a joint press conference, Milly's parents make a renewed appeal. Mrs Dowler tells reporters: "We are devastated and desperately worried."
April 7: Police release CCTV footage of Milly on the afternoon she went missing. She is captured on camera at Heathside School in Weybridge, and on the platform at Weybridge railway station, shortly before she caught the train home.
April 10: Milly's sister Gemma, then aged 16, appeals for witnesses to come forward in an interview with BBC's Newsround.
May 7: New photographs of Milly are released.
September 20: Milly's skeletal remains are found 30 miles away from her home by mushroom pickers in Yateley Heath, Hampshire.
October 8: Milly's family launch Milly's Fund - a charity aimed at promoting personal safety for young people.

2003
March 21: Surrey Police and the Crimestoppers charity offer a £50,000 reward for information leading them to Milly's killer.

2004
November: Levi Bellfield, a suspect in Milly's murder, is arrested by the Metropolitan Police over other matters.

2005
April 25: Police appeal for information about a red Daewoo Nexia car filmed on CCTV close to where Milly was last seen. They say the inquiries result from a "recent development" but refuse to reveal further details.

2008
February 25: Bellfield, then 41, is told that he will die in jail after being found guilty of murdering students Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amelie Delagrange, 22. He is also convicted of the attempted murder of schoolgirl Kate Sheedy, 18.
All of the women were attacked near bus stops in south west London.

2009
August 4: West London scrap dealer Nirmal Gharu, 40, is arrested and questioned over the disposal of the red Daewoo Nexia car.
August 19: Police confirm that a dossier of evidence will be passed to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) within seven days. News emerges of dramatic new evidence in the case.
August 26: The police files are handed to prosecutors at the CPS's complex case unit.
October 6: Underwater divers search a fishing lake at Bedfont Lakes Country Park, in the shadow of Heathrow Airport, for the missing Daewoo Nexia, following new information.

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