Police offer £20k reward to anyone who can help them solve 25-year-old murder case

Police have announced a reward of £20,000 to anyone who can help them with information related to the murder of a schoolgirl 25 years ago.

The 14-year-old girl, identified as Kate Bushell, was killed in November 1997 near her home in Exwick, Devon.

The teenager was walking her neighbour's dog when the incident took place. She died from a knife wound to her throat, and her body was found by her father in a field off Exwick Lane.

Her family has not given up hope yet, and is doing everything they can to find Bushell's killer. Kate's older brother Tim said: "Kate was taken from my family and me when she was murdered near our home whilst walking a friend's dog."

"There isn't a day that goes past where my family and I don't think of her, what life would be like, what she would have achieved, and all the family milestones we have been unable to include her in," he added.

"I'd implore anyone who has been unable to do so previously to share any information with the police so they can apprehend the person responsible and achieve justice for Kate," he added.

The girl's death led to one of the longest-running unsolved murder inquiries initiated by Devon and Cornwall Police.

More than 160 detectives had worked on the case in 1997, and thousands of DNA samples were collected to find the killer, per a report in the BBC. Three people were arrested in connection with the case, but they were released later without charges.

Detectives believe that Bushell was killed by someone who has a local connection. Detective Inspector Rob Back said: "Maybe someone had suspicions about someone in their life back then and has been protecting them out of misplaced loyalty. It is now time for those allegiances to change."

"We appreciate that 25 years is a long time but someone must know what happened that day. For whatever reason they have not come forward but it is not too late to do so now," he added.