MORE than seven years after the brutal murder of Bournemouth mother Heather Barnett, Dorset detectives are studying a potentially significant new lead.

They are now focusing their attention on the chance discovery of human remains in the roof of an Italian church earlier this week.

Personal effects found by workmen at the scene are believed to have belonged to 16-year-old Elisa Claps who went missing in Potenza in 1993.

DNA test results are still awaited.

The teenager’s disappearance, almost two decades ago, has been linked with the Heather Barnett murder investigation for almost six years.

On November 12, 2002, 48-year-old Heather’s mutilated body was discovered in the bathroom of her Charminster home by her two horrified children.

The popular seamstress, who lived in Capstone Road, had been hit over the head and stabbed several times. Her breasts had been cut off and placed next to her body while strands of cut hair, which didn’t belong to the mother-of-two, were placed in her right hand.

Women in the Bournemouth area reported having their hair cut in strange circumstances – some when travelling on buses.

In the Potenza area there were similar reports around the time that Elisa went missing and, as part of their investigations, Dorset police officers went to Italy in June 2004.

Last autumn four detectives travelled to the town of Potenza and four Italian cities to interview and take DNA samples from the hair of 15 women who had reported having their hair cut in unusual or suspicious circumstances.

Italian police believe that one of the last people to have seen Elisa alive was Danilo Restivo, who lived in Potenza and now lives in Charminster, Bournemouth. He has consistently denied their claims.

Mr Restivo has also been quizzed by Dorset detectives in connection with the murder of Heather Barnett. He has consistently denied any knowledge of either Elisa’s disappearance or Heather’s death.

No-one has ever been charged in connection with either investigation but, on the seventh anniversary of Heather’s death, DI Jez Noyce told the Daily Echo that detectives were still working tirelessly to find her killer and following several lines of inquiry.

A Dorset police spokesman confirmed yesterday that officers had been made aware of the discovery of a body in the church at Potenza on Wednesday night.

He added: “We understand that a formal identification has yet to be made. We are continuing our normal contact with the Italian police and other authorities and will continue to assist them if, and when, asked.”

• For double-page special background report, see Friday's Echo