The mother of a murdered Bradford teenager whose body was found 22 years ago has made an emotional appeal for the public to help catch her daughter’s killer.

Donna Healey, 18, of Roxby Street, Little Horton, was working as a prostitute in Leeds when she was last seen in March 1988.

Her mummified, partly-clothed body was found at the edge of the overgrown grounds of the then Falloden Nursing Home in Allerton Park, Chapel Allerton, on January 15, 1991.

But it was not until December 2003 that DNA advances enabled police to establish the remains were those of the missing teenager Yesterday, Donna’s mother Lorraine Wilkinson, 66, said: “Anyone who has children will understand why, as a mother, I need to know what happened to Donna. I think about her all the time and need answers as to why this happened to her.

“Donna was a lovely girl who was always very supportive and had a good close relationship with her stepfather. Her problems only started when she got in with the wrong people.

“I am asking anyone who has information about what happened to Donna to come forward, even after all this time. As a mother, I desperately need to know what happened. I am asking anyone who does know what happened to Donna to search their conscience and think how they would feel if it was their daughter.”

The mummified condition that Donna’s body was found in indicates it was kept somewhere dry and cool within a building for a long period of time before being dumped in the nursing home’s grounds. She was found by a builder who had found the spot clear when he deposited materials there the day before.

Detective Chief Inspector Jon Morgan, who is leading the investigation, said: “The answer to Donna’s death lies in the Allerton Park area.

“Whoever left Donna’s body there had some sort of connection to that place – they had either lived or worked in the area or had some other connection to it.

“The other key finding is that there was likely to have been a significant event in the circumstances of the person who had stored Donna’s body for such a long period that suddenly caused them to move it.

“That could be that they were moving house, or a partner was moving in with them, or that there were due to be renovations that would disturb the place where they had stored the body.

“Given Donna worked as a prostitute, the most likely theory is that she died after going off with a client. She worked in Harehills and was found not far away in Chapel Allerton, which suggests that her disappearance and death all occurred within that area.

“Even though it is 22 years since her body was found, we are asking people to focus their minds on these two key aspects. Do they have any suspicions about someone with links to the Allerton Park site? Do they have any suspicions about someone who had a change in their home circumstances around January 1991?”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team via 101 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.