Police Respond to 1995 Murder / Rape Case; They’ve Been Following Up As Well

Ever since the mysterious cold case of Felicia Teo was solved, other cold cases have been revisited by the families of their victims, with hopes revived.

One such cold case is that of seven-year-old Lim Shiow Rong.

The poor girl was raped and killed by an unknown assailant in 1995.

Due to a lack of information and evidence at the time of the murder, the police never found the killer.

But after receiving a tip-off from the public recently, Lim’s family is now more hopeful.

And now it turns out that the police are assisting them as well.

Police Respond to 1995 Murder / Rape Case; They’ve Been Following Up As Well

The police said they have done extensive investigations into Lim’s case, and routinely conducts reviews of the case.

They released a statement on Monday (18 Jan), in response to queries from TODAY.

The police said that from 1995 to 2000, they carried out extensive interviews, made public appeals for information, and followed up on information provided by the public.

Since then, they have continued to conduct regular reviews of the case.

“This included probing into any information provided by members of the public or the deceased’s family, and leveraging advancements in forensic technology”, they said.

For instance, the police followed up on information provided by the victim’s father when he lodged a police report in June 2014.

Her father made a report after two men had allegedly approached his other daughter – Ms Lim Jia Hui, now 27 – on separate occasions in 2000 and 2001 and asked her to follow them.

The father died in 2016 from abdominal aortic aneurysm, according to TODAY.

What Happened

On 24 June 1995, seven-year-old Lim Shiow Rong told her mother she was going off to see “papa’s friend”.

Sadly, this would be the last time her mother would see her.

The dead body of the little girl was found the next day, though news outlets disagree on how and where she was discovered.

ST reported that she was in a semi-sitting position in a drain, while TODAYonline reported she was found in some bushes near a sewerage tank.

Both news sources, however, said she had been found near Jalan Woodbridge.

There were injuries on the girl’s face and blood stains on her panties.

Investigations revealed that she had been raped and strangled to death.

Police Following Up on Tip-Off

With their hopes revived from the Felicia Teo case, the family made an appeal to the public for new information on 10 Jan, through a press conference organised by Crime Library Singapore.

And just a week later, they received a tip-off.

A member of the public contacted the volunteer organisation, saying he had information about a customer of her mother’s coffee shop in Toa Payoh, who fit the description of a photofit circulated by the police in 1995.

The woman’s coffee shop is located at Block 75 Toa Payoh Lorong 5.

This was the last place Shiow Rong was seen alive.

Armed with this new information, Ms Lim lodged a police report last Thursday (14 Jan).

Since then, Ms Lim and her mother have been called down to the Criminal Investigation Department.

The police are also verifying the information received by the family after their public appeal.

Victim’s Sister: “We Won’t Give Up On the Case”

Speaking to the media on Monday, Ms Lim said the family is confident that the police is on their side.

“We won’t give up on the case… We feel that the police are also playing their part in trying to solve it,” she said.

The family urged those with information to come forward and assist the police in their investigations.

“If there are people who know more about the case who step forward with the information, that would be great, as it can help the police, who will continue to investigate and not give up,” she said.

If you have any information about the case, please contact the police at 1800-255-0000 or the Crime Library Singapore at 6293 5250.

You can also submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness. All information will be kept strictly confidential.

Featured Image: Facebook (Joseph Tan)