Detectives suspect this is the car used by the killer still being hunted for the murder of nightclubber Melanie Hall 17 years ago.
Blonde graduate Melanie, 25, disappeared on a night out in Bath, Somerset in June 1996 and her remains were not found until 13 years later, dumped beside a slip road on the M5.
The attractive hospital worker had been battered around the head and her body wrapped in black bin bags and bound with blue rope.
Police have now released this photo of a distinctive white VW Golf GTi hardtop that disappeared from official records shortly after Melanie vanished.
The vehicle – registration C752 CYE – was last known to be registered on August 7, 1996.
Police say they do not know what has happened to it since – and are appealing for anyone with information about it.
They are particularly interested in sightings around the Bath area at the time Melanie disappeared.
They also say the car was linked to the Pentwyn area of Cardiff around the time.
The latest developments were announced on Crimewatch.
Detective Superintendent Mike Courtiour said: “We are very interested in this car and its possible connection to Melanie’s disappearance.
“We are appealing for anyone with knowledge of it to contact us, even after all these years.
“Our work into Melanie’s murder remains very much active and positive. We are following up a number of leads, of which this missing Golf GTi could be very important.”
Last November a 44-year-old man from Bath was arrested and questioned for two days before being released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Detectives also searched a property on an estate in the city.
Melanie was a hospital worker who lived with her parents Steve and Pat at Bradford Leigh, nr Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts.
She disappeared from Cadillacs nightclub in Bath in the early hours of June 9, 1996.
Her body was found dumped in undergrowth by a slip road at Junction 14 on the M5 at Thornbury outside Bristol on October 5, 2009.
In the four years since Melanie’s discovery, her parents and sister Dominique have issued repeated appeals for members of the public to help police with their inquiries.
