Fresh leads on Dundee murders

Forensic experts have been helping the murder inquiries

Police investigating the murders of two young women in Dundee 25 years ago are making new inquiries into the cases following fresh leads from the public.

Tayside detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of Carol Lannen and Elizabeth McCabe in 1979 and 1980 respectively.

They appealed for further clues on Tuesday and are now looking into the behaviour of a taxi driver.

The bodies of both women were found in the city's Templeton Woods.

The force said it had received two separate calls regarding the conduct of a taxi driver who operated in the city in the early 1980s.

Both callers apparently said his behaviour had given them "cause for concern" at the time.

'Nagging doubt'

Detective Chief Inspector Ewen West, leading the investigation, said: "What we were told in relation to this taxi driver is an example of the type of information that we are seeking.

"People may think that any information they have might be insignificant or irrelevant to our inquiries. I would ask them to let us be the judges of that.

"Whether it's a suspicion or a nagging doubt over something they may have seen or heard all those years ago, that information could prove crucial to our investigations.

"Ultimately it could significantly assist in bringing the person or persons responsible for the murders of Carol Lannen and Elizabeth McCabe to justice."

Carol Lannen, 18, was last seen getting into a red car on Dundee's Exchange Street at about 2000 GMT on Tuesday, 20 March, 1979.

Her body was discovered the following day.

She had earlier been picked up from her family home in Hill Street and taken by taxi to the city centre, near Commercial Street.

Establish movements

Apart from the taxi driver, detectives are still looking for the driver of the blue Range Rover, who called at Carol's old address a day before she was killed, and the driver of a red-coloured car who gave Carol a lift home the previous weekend.

DCI West added: "These men may be unconnected to the death of Carol Lannen, but it is important they can be traced so we can fully establish Carol's movements on the days prior to her death."

Eleven months later, the body of 20-year-old trainee nursery nurse Elizabeth McCabe was also discovered.

She was last seen leaving Teazer's disco in Dundee's Union Street after an evening out with friends on 10 February, 1980.

Her body was found two weeks later.

DCI West added: "We would also appeal to people still living in the Dundee area who were in or around Teazer's nightclub in Union Street on the night that Elizabeth went missing."