MORE than 30 people have responded to a £50,000 appeal to find Karen Hales' killer police said today.The calls have been made in the month since the launch of a rejuvenated drive led by The Evening Star and its partners to find the person who murdered the 21 year old Ipswich mum.

Mark Bulstrode

MORE than 30 people have responded to a £50,000 appeal to find Karen Hales' killer police said today.

The calls have been made in the month since the launch of a rejuvenated drive led by The Evening Star and its partners to find the person who murdered the 21 year old Ipswich mum.

Karen was killed at her home in Lavenham Road on the afternoon of November 21 1993 but police have never found the culprit.

Today more than 12 years on police said although they are looking into the calls they are no closer to solving the horrific crime.

Detective superintendent Roy Lambert who overseeing the case said: “At this time there's no information that takes the inquiry significantly forward.

“However the case remains open and we could we appeal for anyone who knows anything about this case to get in touch with us."

Karen's parents Graham and Geraldine Hales remain optimistic the case could still be solved.

Mrs Hales said: “I'm pleased with the number of people who have got in touch with the police. I'm surprised how many actually did. We can only hope it might help the police find the person who did this."

Mr Hales said he had been updated about developments in the inquiry.

He said: “Apparently a lot of people called up with names that have been mentioned in the past and we're pleased with that I think there are some lines of inquiry they're going to look into. We're still hoping."

Evening Star Nigel Pickover said he was pleased at the response.

He added: “We've always said it only needs one piece of information to solve this crime and we still hope this might be forthcoming. We would urge anyone who knows who committed this awful crime to get in touch with the police.”