A family is still waiting to find out who killed their mother after a man, arrested for the murder of Josephine Backshall, was released without charge.

The 68-year-old, from the Maldon area, was arrested in March and then bailed while police continued their investigation.

The bail was originally extended, but has now been cancelled.

Special investigators from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire cold case review unit launched a fresh appeal last year.

Despite a good initial response, the unit is still searching for clues.

A spokesman said: “At this stage, inquiries are continuing and police are still urging people to come forward with information.”

Mrs Backshall, 39, left her family home in Norfolk Close, Maldon, at about 6pm on October 29, 1974, to meet a man about some part-time work in Witham.

Her children – Christopher, Sarah and Emma – were aged just 12, ten and seven respectively at the time.

Mrs Backshall’s body was found three days later, in a field 35 miles away, off Bury Green Lane, near Bishop’s Stortford.

Last year, her children, now all aged in their 40s, joined police at a press conference to launch the fresh appeal.

Their father and her husband, Clifford, remarried, but died about 12 years ago.