Girl, 7, raped and murdered in 1995: Family receives tip-off after appeal for help

The family of a seven-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in 1995 have received a tip-off on the unsolved crime after their appeal for more leads.

The body of Lim Shiow Rong was found in some bushes near a sewerage tank off Jalan Woodbridge on June 25, 1995. She went missing after telling her mother she was going to meet "papa's friend". The killer is still at large.

The victim's younger sister Lim Jia Hui, now 27, and her mother had made a public appeal last Sunday (Jan 10) for more information on the crime that has gone unsolved for close to 26 years. 

Man answers call for more information

A man has since come forward after media reports were published on the case. He told Lim through a phone call that he had more information on a man that fit the photofit released by police in 1995.

Lim filed a police report on Thursday (Jan 14) with the new information. A copy of the police report was also posted on the Facebook page of volunteer organisation Crime Library Singapore, which had highlighted Lim's case to the media. 

[embed]https://www.facebook.com/Crimelibrarysingapore/photos/pcb.3984674501565251/3984681221564579[/embed]

According to the statement, it stated that the caller had information on another patron of Lim's mother's coffeeshop who used to visit their stall often and fit the description of a suspect police had been looking for.

Lim told the Straits Times that an officer from the Criminal Investigation Department has since contacted her.

She said: "My mum and I were happy and glad that they listened to our appeal and are looking into the case."

3 other unsolved murder cases

Besides the case of seven-year-old Lim Shiow Rong, three other murder cases which rocked the nation remain unsolved to this day.

18-year-old jogger found naked off Holland Road

On May 22, 1985, 18-year-old Catholic Junior College student Winnifred Teo went for her usual run around her home in Maryland Drive. She left at 6pm but never returned.

Her naked body was found the next morning in dense undergrowth beside a deserted stretch of Holland Road. Her hands were bound and she had sustained multiple stab wounds to her neck.

Bukit Batok jogger found in ravine

On Feb 6, 2000, 27-year-old Linda Chua was jogging in the Bukit Batok Nature Park at 10am when she was brutally attacked and raped. She was found alive in a 10m-deep ravine but died a week later in hospital. 

The finance executive in an oil company was supposed to get married later that year. There was a reward of $80,000 offered for information on the attacker, but he was never captured.

Rape-murder of Indonesian student

The body of Indonesian hotel management student Dini Haryati was found hidden in bushes near the Woodlands MRT station on Jan 6, 1998, two days after she went missing. 

She was reportedly walking back home after work at about 11pm when the attack occurred. Her rented flat was just 200 metres from the MRT station.

The 19-year-old karate and taekwondo black belt holder was believed to have been struck with a blunt object, raped while unconscious and then strangled.

candicecai@asiaone.com