23rd February 12 
SEEKING ANSWERS . . . Betty's daughter Sarah Smith
Murder probe anniversary
A MURDER probe into the death of an Edinburgh grandmother whose skeletal remains were found in woodland between Gretna and Longtown a year ago will continue until the case is solved.
The decomposed body of Elizabeth Brown, who was known as Betty was found in an area close to Gaitle Bridge and disused quarries, known locally as ‘The Ponds’, on January 18 last year.
And despite a national television appeal on BBC Crimewatch and high-profile stop checks on the A7 trunk road near Longtown, Cumbria Constabulary’s forensic teams have still failed to reveal a cause of death.
Detective chief inspector Jeff Ashton, who is leading the investigation, said: “It is almost a year to the day since Betty’s body was discovered in undergrowth in woods near to a disused quarry in Longtown.
“Since then we have made exhaustive attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to her and how she ended up where she did.
“We conducted a number of appeals in the local media and on BBC Crimewatch, and followed a number of leads, but these have so far failed to answer our questions.
“The investigation remains active, but has been scaled back until such time as we receive new information or a new lead.”
It still remains a mystery how the 56-year-old ended up in the woods but DCI Ashton believes it is highly unlikely it was a suicide or she died of natural causes and refuses to rule out murder.
In fact, post mortem examinations, which have so far proved inconclusive, show that Betty had damage to her ribs, which could have been the result of an attack.
The only conclusion officers can draw is she may have caught the X95 bus to Gretna or Cumbria – perhaps intending to pay a surprise visit to her daughter Sarah Smith, who lives in Gretna with her husband and three children – when tragedy struck.
DCI Ashton added: “The more significant anniversary for us was a year on from her disappearance on May 28 2010, as we have always hoped that we would be able to trace someone who saw what happened to Betty after she was last seen on the number three bus in Edinburgh that day.
“We believe she then travelled south on the X95 bus from Edinburgh to either Gretna or Cumbria.”
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