Husband arrested over Thai woman's 2004 death

The body of a Thai woman was discovered in the Yorkshire Dales more than 20 years ago, and her British husband has now been arrested on suspicion of murder. Ramduan Armitage's semi-naked body was found in a stream near Pen-y-ghent by hikers in 2004, and her identity remained unknown for 15 years until her family saw a BBC news report and contacted the police.

David Armitage had been living in Thailand since his wife's death and returned to the UK after Thai authorities revoked his residency visa, leading to his subsequent arrest. North Yorkshire Police, who are leading the investigation, stated, "A 61-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Ramduan Armitage, who died in 2004. He remains in police custody for questioning."

It is understood that Mr. Armitage was detained at his home in Kanchanaburi last Thursday before being transferred to an immigration detention center in Bangkok. He had not submitted an immigration application, meaning he no longer had the right to remain in Thailand. He returned to the UK on Saturday morning and was arrested by police shortly after arriving at Heathrow Airport. While the BBC has not spoken to Mr. Armitage, The Sun newspaper reported that he previously stated he had no involvement in his wife's death.

Mrs. Armitage, whose maiden name was Sikania, was known as "the lady of the hills" during the attempts to identify her after her remains were found on September 20, 2004. A post-mortem examination determined that she had died between one and three weeks before her body was found, but it was unable to establish a cause of death. While there were no signs of violence and hypothermia was ruled out, detectives were unable to answer two key questions: who she was and how she died.

A cold case review was launched in 2016, and advances in science meant police were able to piece together more detailed information about her identity, concluding that she had been murdered. A major breakthrough came three years later when a Thai family saw a report about the case and believed the woman could be their daughter, who had gone missing in 2004. This led to North Yorkshire Police conducting DNA tests to confirm her identity. The investigation determined that she moved to the UK after marrying Mr. Armitage in Thailand in 1991 and had been living in the north of England until her death.