THIS year will mark the 25th anniversary of the murder of 23-year-old Julie Finley, whose strangled body was found on the Rainford bypass, but police have not given up hope of catching her killer.

Julie's body was discovered by a cyclist in a carrot field off the St Helens-bound carriageway of the Rainford bypass on Saturday, August 6, 1994.

A £20,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of her killer - but two and a half decades later, Julie and her family have still not had justice.

Over the years a series of arrests have been made in connection with her death but nobody has ever been charged.

Detectives have remained hopeful that ongoing advances in the field of DNA will uncover new leads for the investigation that remains active.

Julie was last seen alive at about 10.30pm on Friday, August 5, 1994 near to the rear of the Royal Liverpool Hospital.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Inspector Colin Rennison, said: “We continue to appeal for any information which can help her family find some closure after all these years.

“We are as determined as ever to find the person, or persons, responsible and are still offering a £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.

"If you have information which could help Julie's family find justice I would urge you to come forward.

"We are still keen to speak to a friend of Julie, called Tina, who contacted the investigation team shortly after the murder.

"Tina told officers that on the night of the murder Julie had said she was going to meet a taxi driver from Prescot.

Tina promised to recall the officers she had spoken to, but never phoned back.

"I would appeal to Tina to search her conscience and re-contact us, as she could have vital information which could help Julie's family in their fight for justice to be done."

Detectives have said previously they suspect the killer may have confided in somebody, possibly while they were serving a sentence for another crime.

They suspect that given the murderer's knowledge of the Rainford lay-by, the killer could be local, though there is no concrete evidence to back this theory.

Anyone with information which could help the investigation team should contact Merseyside Police via our social media desk @MerPolCC, call 101, or @CrimestoppersUK, anonymously, on 0800 555111.