Daughter’s 30-Year Quest for Justice in Mother’s Unsolved Murder

The daughter of a woman who was brutally murdered three decades ago, having been set on fire in a churchyard, has stated her inability to find true peace until her mother’s killers are identified. Kelly Hill was 11 years old when her mother, Tracey Mertens, departed their home on December 23, 1994, to retrieve documents from their previous residence in Birmingham. Ms. Hill never saw her mother again. Tracey Mertens was forced into a vehicle by two men and transported to Eaton, a location near Congleton in Cheshire, where she was covered in petrol. Her death occurred the subsequent day. “I can’t let go until I know why and what’s happened – and someone gets in court for it,” Mrs Hill stated. She added, “It’s just like she’s forgotten about, but I can’t forget.” Ms. Hill, currently aged 41, recounted remembering the sound of the door closing at their new residence in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, as her mother departed. “I woke up and I ran over to the window and she was just getting in the car,” she recalled. “I knocked on the window and I waved to her and she waved back. That was the last time I saw her.” That winter, the family, comprising her brother Daniel, then 10 years old, and her father Joey, had relocated to the north. Tracey had gone to retrieve the benefits book she had left at her previous home in Nechells, Birmingham, when two men appeared at the door. The subsequent details are established because Tracey, despite sustaining extensive injuries, managed to inform the police about the events of the final hours of her life. The men inquired “where’s Joey?” before forcing her into a yellow Ford Escort. She was transported 60 miles to the secluded Christ Church, where she was set on fire within its grounds. Tracey characterized her assailants as two black men who spoke with Birmingham accents and also used Jamaican Patois. Tracey passed away the subsequent day, on Christmas Eve. Christmas was formerly a joyous period for Kelly and her family. “I remember her on Christmas morning – my mum would always go downstairs first and would make me and Daniel wait at the top of the stairs,” she recounted. “[She’d say] ‘I’ve got to check if he’s been’ and we’d wait there patiently.” This situation has since changed. “Every Christmas it just breaks me again and again and I don’t know how to stop it,” stated Kelly, who resides in Lancashire. “I don’t know how to stop feeling like this. I just wish it was a dream.” She added, “I just wish I could wake up again 30 years ago so I could tell her not to go.” Mark Edwardson, who was a BBC journalist at the time, covered the case. Three decades later, this remains one case he finds unforgettable. “There are times when the job really questions your strength of character actually -and this case of Tracey Mertens’ was for me one of those moments,” he commented. Mark continued to follow the story throughout the years and conducted an interview with Tracey’s sister, Sharon Howarth, two decades after the murder. “I just remember that day sitting in that lounge with her and she was just in tears at times and sobbing and finding it difficult to speak because she was so emotional,” he recalled. He expressed astonishment that anyone possessing information would choose not to contact the police. “If anybody had seen that and knew what had happened and kept their mouth shut – I think that’s disgraceful to watch the level of emotion, trauma on display from a close member of Tracey’s family, to then watch it and think ‘no I’m not going to say anything’,” he stated. Over the years, police have acquired hundreds of pieces of information pertaining to the case, including DNA evidence; however, none of this has resulted in a conviction. Detective Inspector Nigel Reid, from Cheshire Police, commented that the 30th anniversary represents “a time that is understandably still very difficult for her family.” “Tracey met a violent and horrific death at the hands of her killers,” he further stated. “She was so brave and told detectives as much as she could before she died,” he remarked. “Although extensive enquiries have been completed, including arrests, forensic reviews and CPS advice, to date no-one has been convicted in relation to the death of Tracey, and the file remains open,” he confirmed. Kelly is left solely with memories. “I’d rather not talk about it all, but if I don’t, who else is going to?” she questioned. “I don’t want to die without knowing what happened to my mum.”