Mother-of-six Anita Rose, 57, left her house to take her dog Bruce for a walk at around 5am on July 24 – but was found unconscious with head injuries near Rectory Lane in Brantham, Suffolk
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New CCTV footage released in Brantham murder appeal
The daughter of a dogwalker who was found unconscious before dying four days later in hospital has issued a plea for her attacker to be found.
Mother-of-six Anita Rose, 57, left her house to take her springer spaniel Bruce for a walk at around 5am on Wednesday July 24. But she was found unconscious with serious head injuries near Rectory Lane in Brantham, Suffolk, at around 6.25am, and died four days later. Police are investigating and treating the incident as murder.
Three people have so far been arrested in connection with the incident, including a 45-year-old man held on suspicion of attempted murder and later re-arrested on suspicion of murder. A 37-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods, and both have since been released on police bail, with conditions to return on October 25.
Speaking on BBC’s Crimewatch Live, Jessica Cox – one of Ms Rose’s daughters – said: “We don’t understand how someone could brutally, horrifically attack someone when they’re walking their dog. I really want anyone that has any information, however small or insignificant they think it may be, to come forward and speak to the police.
“We need to find the person that done this to my mum. They need to face justice. It won’t be enough but they’ve done it to my mum and they could do it to somebody else and they’re still out there.” Independent charity Crimestoppers has offered a £20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anybody involved in the death of Ms Rose.
Ms Cox also described her mother as a “beautiful, strong, independent woman” who was “funny and so kind”. She continued: “My mum’s got six kids, I’ve got four brothers and a sister, and she looks after all of us, and she loved to spend time with all of us, with all of her grandchildren. My mum has a long-term partner, Richard. They’ve been together 13 years. They adored each other and mum was planning on growing old with him. My mum dotes on us all and we miss her.”
She said her mother moved to Brantham around six years ago and “loved the area, literally loved walking and seeing people in the community” and that “she felt safe”. Ms Cox added: “Mum would get up early to walk Bruce in the mornings so that he had a good walk before she went to work. Being a springer he needed a lot of exercise.”
She described Ms Rose’s funeral last month as “a difficult day because we shouldn’t be having to have a funeral for my mum”. She told the programme: “She’s 57 years old and she had so much to live for, so much she was looking forward to. She was supposed to be on holiday right now. We haven’t got our mum and our mum isn’t here to look after us any more. My mum is going to miss out on birthdays, the birth of my nephew, her grandson, she’s going to miss my brother getting married next year.”
Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Connick told Crimewatch Live that a male cyclist heading towards the railway station found Ms Rose unconscious on a path near a water sewage plant at 6.25am. “He could see facial injuries and immediately called an ambulance,” Mr Connick said. “Bruce, her dog, was by her side with the lead wrapped round her leg.”
He said a pink Regatta waterproof jacket that Ms Rose had been wearing had been stolen from her, along with her Galaxy Earbud headphones, which may have been in the jacket pocket, and her iPhone. Mr Connick said the phone was recovered in Ipswich three days later, on July 27, and arrests have been made in relation to that.
He said the “distinctive” phone case, described as a “black quilted case with a gold stud and gold crown design”, is still missing and noted how police are keen to hear information about any of those things, and “any information about how anything’s moved from Brantham to Ipswich”.
Officers are also trying to trace a potential witness, a man “seen walking past the same CCTV camera as Anita 16 minutes later”. Suffolk Police said Ms Rose was found “wearing only her bra on her top half, as well as leggings and trainers on her lower half”. The force said her dog, which was still with her, was not harmed.
Mr Connick added: “We continue to investigate all possible motives for the attack, and from our inquiries so far there is nothing to suggest that Anita was sexually assaulted.”
Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0800 051 6076, up until 10pm on Monday, and thereafter to call the incident room on 01473 613513. To report information online, see https://mipp.police.uk/operation/363723O47-PO1 Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via the charity’s online form at www.crimestoppers-uk.org
