EXCLUSIVE: Police re-examine evidence in Caroline Glachan murder

Police are re-examining the unsolved murder of a Dumbartonshire teenager, twenty years on.

Caroline Glachan from Bonhill suffered a violent death on the 24th of August 1996.

The 14-year-old had been on her way to see her boyfriend in nearby Renton, but the next day her battered body was found in the River Leven.

Despite detectives interviewing hundreds of people and taking more than a thousand statements, it still remains one of Scotland’s unsolved murders.

Clyde News can exclusively reveal police have moved the evidence from the local police station in Dumbarton to the forensic lab at the Scottish Crime Campus.

Detective Superintendent Jim Kerr is in charge of the Homicide Governance and Review Team at Police Scotland.

He exclusively discussed the historical case with our reporter Shiona McCallum at the Scottish Crime Campus in Gartcosh.

He said; “It’s a bit like for Caroline’s family, this case is not going away for the police.

“It is one of our top priorities and is never far away from the forefront of our thoughts.

“Obviously we are into the 21st century and we have a forensic lab at the Scottish Crime Campus here which is at the forefront of European Law enforcement as far as forensics is concerned and there is continual advancement with DNA.

“So we would look to have some sort of a forensic review at some point soon in relation to the murder of Caroline Glachan as we approach the twentieth anniversary of her death.”

A code of silence in the local communities of Bonhill and Renton is blamed as part of the reason why this case has never been solved.

Jim Kerr continued; “The forensic review is just one strand in relation to this; the answer is in Bonhill and Renton. If anyone has any information at all, regardless of how trivial you might think it is, please get in touch with us.”

“We are an integral part of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Homicide Governance Board and we would seek to progress together to get these unsolved homicides resolved.”

You can listen to the interview here:

It's hoped that with a fresh focus on the case, police will make a breakthrough.

• Justiceforcaroline
• Shiona McCallum