A fresh appeal is made to find the killer of a sex worker whose dismembered body was found in a Wigan borough lake 35 years ago

January 6 marks the 35th anniversary of the shocking discovery of Maria Requena’s mutilated body on the shores of Pennington Flash, Leigh.

And are convinced someone is out there who knows who did it.

Two youngsters had been angling at a spot close to Slag Lane on that date in 1991 when they found five bin bags with the most gruesome of contents.

At first no-one had any idea who the young woman was. Neither possessions nor clothes were present.

The cause of death has never been revealed although it is thought power tools were used to cut up the cadaver.

Short of alternative ideas, the investigating officer took the extraordinary decision to release a mortuary picture of the victim’s severed head which was published in many newspapers including the Wigan Evening Post.

The move worked and detectives were told she was 26-year-old Manchester prostitute and mother-of-one Maria Christina Requena.

Maria had last been seen near Manchester city centre on New Year’s Day and her killer was perhaps a client.

The revelation of her background and circumstances post-mortem sparked a media frenzy, amid fears there was a North West “Ripper” at large.

Maria's murder took place two years after Liverpool sex worker Linda Donaldson's body was found three miles away in a field off Winwick Lane, Lowton, in October 1988.

Detectives have said they haven’t found any forensic links between the two killings (although they have samples from both), but they have never been able to rule out a connection.

And Ripper questions were posed again when the naked body of 23-year-old Julie Finley, also from Liverpool, was found in fields off the Rainford bypass on August 6 1994. She had been strangled and, like Maria and Linda, her death too remains unsolved.

But police have no intention of closing the case on any of these crimes.

A Cold Case Unit spokesperson said: “We are convinced someone out there knows who killed Maria and we need them to come forward.

“No undetected murder is ever forgotten, and we always strive to solve them. The passage of time is no reason to shelve a murder investigation.

“Allegiances change as people get older. They may have felt an urge to protect someone at the time and that has now gone.

"Perhaps people have information they thought irrelevant or were too afraid to come forward with.

“It is not too late to come forward now. We would be very receptive to anyone approaching us with new details and possible lines of inquiry that would lead us to tracking down this offender.

“As it stands there are no forensic links between Maria’s and Linda’s deaths.

“But we do have forensic material in both cases, and we will continue to investigate.

“Without a name to put to the material, and the nature of the women's work, such murders are difficult to detect, but if we got a call from someone, then a lot of progress could be made in both cases.

“The cases will never be closed, and we will not stop until we find out who killed Maria and Linda.

“We would urge anyone who has any information, however minor, to get in touch with us.”

Anyone with information about either case can contact the unit on 0161 856 5961 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”