THE family of a teenage prostitute who vanished ten years ago last night appealed for help in catching her killer after police confirmed they had finally found her body.

Rachel Wilson, 19, was last seen at 2.30am on May 31, 2002, when CCTV images showed her walking along Southfield Road, in Middlesbrough town centre.

Her remains were discovered on the Newham Hall Farm estate, near Coulby Newham, last month.

Yesterday, Cleveland Police launched a murder investigation to find the killer of the Middlesbrough vice girl who was discovered in a drainage ditch on the farm.

Speaking at a press conference, Rachel’s mother, Tina Wilson, who was being comforted by her son Carl, said: “For the past ten years, we have been hoping that she was coming into the house.

On Friday, we found out she was never coming home.

“I am asking for somebody that knows what happened just to come forward and tell us what happened to Rachel.”

Rachel was one of three young women who went missing from Middlesbrough in a four-year period.

Donna Keogh was 17 when she disappeared in 1998 from Hartington Road, near the Shipmate pub, in the town centre.

The body of Vicky Glass was found in a shallow grave on the North York Moors in November 2000, two months after she vanished.

Detectives believe that Rachel’s naked body was dumped about the time she went missing by someone who knew the area around the farm.

However, Acting Detective Superintendent Peter McPhillips, of Cleveland Police, said there was no evidence to connect the disappearance of the three women.

He said: “We have no cause of death, there’s no clothes there – this is going to be really difficult in terms of physical evidence, but we need to try to trace people who had links to the area at the time.

“Due to the location of where Rachel’s body was found, I believe that whoever killed her must have known the area.”

A post-mortem examination was unable to establish the cause of death and the detective thinks it may never be known until the person responsible is arrested.

Acting DSI McPhillips added: “Over the past ten years, dedicated officers have examined thousands of pieces of information and intelligence, using all the tools available to a major inquiry team.

“We did arrest a 57-year-old man in connection with this case in May 2003, however he was later released without charge.

“The anguish the Wilson family has suffered over the years is unimaginable, but they never gave up hope that they’d have Rachel home again – or at the very least find out what happened to her.

“Their despair will not have been lessened by this recent development.

“It is another piece of the jigsaw but the picture is far from complete. We still do not know how Rachel died and how long she had been there.

“This new development is another major step forward in the case but we urgently need more information and we will treat it in the utmost confidence.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact the incident room via the non-emergency number 101 or speak anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800-555-111.