Timeline: 20-year anniversary of Lyn Bryant murder
The Cornish grandmother was found stabbed to death in a field in October 1998.
Devon and Cornwall Police have launched an appeal to mark the 20th anniversary of the murder of Cornish grandmother Linda Bryant, known as Lyn.
Here is a timeline of the case:
– October 20, 1998
Morning – Lyn Bryant cleans a local house in Ruan High Lanes, visits her parents and returns home.
12.45pm – Mrs Bryant drives her grey Ford Sierra to Harris Garage in Tregony but there is no fuel there.
1.05pm – Mrs Bryant drives on to Chenoweth’s garage at Ruan High Lanes, buying fuel, milk and groceries.
– A white van driven by an unknown bearded man enters the forecourt at the same time.
– Mrs Bryant returns home and sees daughter Erin, 19. They have lunch and watch Emmerdale.
1.30pm – Mrs Bryant sets out on her regular walk with Jay, the family’s lurcher dog.
– Witnesses see Mrs Bryant walking along the main lane towards Ruan High Lanes Methodist Church.
1.45-2pm – A motorist sees Mrs Bryant talking to a clean-shaven man at the junction by the chapel.
2.30pm – Mrs Bryant’s body is found lying in the gateway to a field on a road between the chapel and Treviles Manor.
2.34pm – A 999 call is made and emergency services are quickly sent.
2.50pm – The air ambulance arrives and Mrs Bryant is pronounced dead at the scene.
2.45-3pm – A farmer sees an unknown man walking in a nearby field, away from the murder scene.
– November 4, 1998 – Mrs Bryant’s last movements are re-enacted for BBC Crimewatch.
– February 2, 1999 – Mrs Bryant’s tortoiseshell glasses are found on top of mud where her body was found four months before.
– April 1999 – Police conduct the first investigative review into the case, named Operation Hermitic.
– December 14, 1999 – A coroner in Truro rules that Mrs Bryant was unlawfully killed.
– March 2002 – The second investigative review, named Operation Hermitic II, takes place.
– 2007 – A full forensic review is undertaken.
– October 13, 2008 – Devon and Cornwall Police launch a 10-year anniversary appeal for Mrs Bryant’s murder.
– May 2016 – A partial DNA profile is developed from a number of samples taken from the scene at the time of Mrs Bryant’s death.
– October 2016 – Officers begin re-taking DNA samples from across the UK.
– October 15, 2018 – Devon and Cornwall Police launch a 20-year anniversary appeal.