Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?

chattherapy

chattherapy

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Has anyone heard of this mystery that took place in the 40s in Hagley Wood, Worcestershire, England?
Her skeletonised remains were found inside the trunk of a tree called a Wych Elm by 2 young local boys who were playing in the woods. Since then graffiti has shown up at various locations in the local area saying "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?" The local police were unable to identify the woman and there was no files related to missing persons either so its turned into a real mystery to this day. I recall as a little girl my self seeing the graffiti written over the wall of a railway bridge some 10 miles from the site and it popped up all over the Black Country for many years. Does the graffiti know something? There were also rumours of black magic being practiced in the area and that she was a Dutch spy, after all this was at the peak of WW2 when espionage was playing a massive part in defeating the Germans throughout Europe so maybe there is some credence to that.
There is limited information online outside unfounded theories online so I am wondering if anyone here has heard of this case and can add their theories to this mystifying case.
 
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I have never heard of this one. I wonder if DNA testing could be done on it now. There was a similar mystery here in the us of a teen girl that was murdered 40 years ago and was recently identified with dna.
 
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Welcome CT, an intriguing and sort of creepy event. You wonder where the name Bella came in, maybe the murder became sort of an urban legend over there. I have friends over here in Oz from Walsall and Birmingham, I might ask them if they have heard of this.
 
It is a well known case locally, the mysterious cryptic graffiti was still appearing across the region in the late 80s and early 90s because I recall seeing it in person when I was around 10 years old and it wasn't washed off for a long time. The name Bella came about from various claims and theories about her being a spy of some sort called Clarabell who supposedly went missing but this was quickly shut down and there was no evidence. There was also a link to local gypsies. The area was and still is known for witchcraft and pagan practices and a lot of wiccan circles meet locally at various times of the year. The reason the witchcraft and black magic theory was so popular and concerning was because her hand was found detached in a separate place nearby where the tree was growing and this was said to be a common ritual. There is a pub nearby called The Badgers Set that is also said to be haunted in its own right. I hope someone will reopen the case and look at the DNA aspect because of great advances in forensic science. Someone at the time must have missed her but maybe people thought nothing of loss back then because of how many people were displaced and missing in action during the war, she may well been a spy and if this is the case then I suspect files will have been shut down for 100 years or destroyed. Maybe after the 100 years has passed some more info will come out and it will be solved. I have some more good mysteries and stories to share from The Black Country region, I cant wait to get busy and upload them all. Thanks for reading and replying folks Have a good day x
 
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