TODAY is the 20th anniversary of the murder of Ann Heron, with police saying all information provided will be investigated.

No one has ever been convicted of her murder, which happened on the hottest day of 1990 while she was sunbathing outside her family home on the outskirts of Darlington.

Yesterday, The Northern Echo printed a poem, called To Whom it may Concern, by Ann’s stepdaughter, Debbie Simpson.

She said she wrote it to help bring to justice Ann’s killer and restore her father’s good name. Read the poem at northernecho.co.uk Peter Heron, Ann’s husband and Mrs Simpson’s father, was arrested in November 2005. The case was discontinued three months later, but Mrs Simpson believes the suspicion hanging over him will only finally be cleared when the killer is found.

Chief Superintendent Andy Reddick, the senior investigating officer in charge of the case, said yesterday nothing was planned to mark the anniversary.

However, he said his team would investigate any information or witnesses who came forward.

He remains in regular contact with the family, and said: “The investigation is still open. Any new information which may come to light in the future will be fully considered.”

Witnesses reported seeing a blue car speeding away from the scene of Mrs Heron’s death. It was driven by a dark-haired and suntanned man in his 30s.

However neither he, nor his car, nor a male jogger near the home – Aeolian House, between Darlington and Middleton St George – were traced.

The murder is one of only two unsolved cases in County Durham.

The other is that of May Rebecca Thompson, in Spennymoor, in 1952.

Those with information about the murder are asked to call police on 0345-60-60-365 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800-555-111.