HEAD bowed and with hair tied back, Emma Caldwell unwittingly walks from a Glasgow hostel towards her death.
Investigators yesterday released the last known image of the murder victim before she disappeared. Her badly decomposed body was found more than a month later in remote woodland.
Ms Caldwell was captured on CCTV as she left Inglefield Street women's hostel in Govanhill at 11pm on April 4 to walk down Butterbiggins Road towards Victoria Road.
Her body was discovered on Sunday night in thick undergrowth 25 yards from a forestry track by a person walking a dog at Roberton, near Biggar, and close to the river Clyde.
But her brown, imitation furlined Primark-brand jacket, a gift from her parents, and handbag, which is either black or dark brown and clutch style or with short shoulder strap, are still missing.
Miss Caldwell, 27, was a drug user who fed her heroin addiction through prostitution.
A former horse-riding instructor from a strong and caring family background, she left home six years ago - her descent into drugs and vice sparked by the death of her sister, Karen, 31, from cancer.
She is the eighth Glasgow prostitute to have been Replica Loewe murdered in the past 14 years, with only one person convicted.
Detective Superintendent Willie Johnston, who is leading the investigation, said last night he was pleased with the public response to appeals for information after receiving another 20 calls to the incident room.
He stressed that the missing jacket, with imitation fur collar and cuffs, as well as the handbag, would form a significant part of the investigation. Mr Johnston said that he was anxious to trace both items.
As he spoke, forensic scientists from England began examining the woodland where Ms Caldwell's body was found dumped.
They are specialists in botany and entomology, tasked with offering likely locations for the murder as well as the time of death. Their work at the site is expected to take several days.
T8 LED Tube T8-600mmMr Johnston said he wants to hear from anyone who knew Ms Caldwell or had spoken to her this year.
He added: "I know there must be people out there who know something and have not yet come forward, I would urge them to do the right thing and make contact."
His 50-strong inquiry team is keeping an "open mind" on possible links to previous murders of prostitutes and will also be reviewing every unsolved murder of a woman in Britain.
Last night, a friend of Ms Caldwell, who asked not to be named, said: "She was so different before her sister died.
That tore her apart. It shows what drugs can do to people.
She really went downhill after she started taking them."
Another acquaintance recalled: "She was always helping out with youth clubs and things like that. That's how I got to know her. She'd spend a lot of time with you. It is a tragedy what has happened."
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A third, from Haghill, Glasgow, said he met Miss Caldwell through her former boyfriend:
"Everyone was taking 'smack, ' which was easier to get than hash or even alcohol.
"She was a nice girl, but troubled. She
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