Marina Monte

Marina Monte was found dead in a track in London.

She had been strangled.

She had been a heroin addict and had worked as a prostitute to finance her habit. She had no family in England, only a boyfriend who was also a drug addict.

She was last seen on the night of 24 January 1987 at about 10.30pm as she went to look for business around the Bayswater, Queensway and Paddington area and was known to work around Sussex Gardens. However, there were no specific sightings of her that evening and it was thought that she might have been murdered by one of her first customers.

Her body was later found near Mitre Bridge railway junction in Scrubs Lane about three miles from Paddington the following morning by a railway worker at 7.15am 25 January 1987.

At about 11pm on the night she vanished a railway signalman at Mitre Bridge junction said that he noticed a small car pull into the service road at the place where her body was found and stop there for about four or five minutes.

When she was found her boots and handbag were missing.

Her murder was linked to the murder of Rachel Applethwaite who was found murdered the following day in a lock up garage in Sumner Place, Chelsea. Rachel Applethwaite had also been a prostitute and had worked in the same area as Marina Monte. They had both been murdered within a day of each other.

In March 1987 a Mexican diplomat was questioned for 30 hours over the murders of Marina Monte and Rachel Applethwaite. However, he said, 'I am innocent' and was later released without charge.