Husband bailed over Thai woman's 2004 death


North Yorkshire police investigating the death of Lamduan Armitage, whose body was discovered in a stream near Pen-y-ghent in 2004, have appealed for information from anyone who knew her from when she lived in South Yorkshire to come forward. Police have confirmed that Mrs Armitage’s husband, David Armitage, who was arrested on suspicion of her murder, has been released on conditional bail. Mr. Armitage had lived in Thailand since his wife’s death in September 2004, and was arrested when he returned to the UK after the Thai authorities revoked his resident visa.  

It took 15 years before Mrs. Armitage was identified after her family saw a BBC News report and came forward. Previously, she became known as the Lady of the Hills during the attempts to determine her identity. A post-mortem examination confirmed that she died between one and three weeks before her body was found, but could not determine how she died. No sign of violence was found, and hypothermia was ruled out.

Detectives have been unable to answer two questions around her death: Who was she, and how did she die? To address this issue, a cold case review commenced in 2016, and the use of scientific advancements had made it possible to generate a more elaborate picture of her identity, which eventually confirmed that Mrs. Armitage had been murdered. Several years later, a Thai family read about the case and suspected that the Lady of the Hills could be their daughter who vanished in 2004, which resulted in DNA testing carried out by North Yorkshire Police, thus confirming her identity.

During the investigation, it was established that she and her husband moved to the UK in 1991 after they were married in Thailand, and were living in northern England before her death. Further inquiries will be necessary to determine exactly what happened to Mrs. Armitage and why

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