Major breakthrough in search for mum-of-three, 25, murdered by her evil husband in honour killing 10 years ago
COPS have made a major breakthrough in the search for a mum-of-three who was brutally murdered by her husband 10 years ago.
Rania Alayed, 25, was killed by her estranged husband Ahmed Al-Khatib for being “too westernised” in June 2013.
Nazar savagely murdered her in an honour killing at his brother’s flat in Salford.
The twisted monster then spun a web of lies to her family and friends, posing as if she was still alive.
Al-Khatib eventually told police he had disposed of her body in a copse near the A19, in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
But Rania was never found, leaving the mystery open for more than a decade.
Now, Greater Manchester Police confirmed “new information” has come to light in a case breakthrough.
Officers have been seen searching an area of land next to the A19 for the mum-of-three’s remains.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “We remain committed to pursuing all opportunities in order to identify Rania’s burial location and recovering her body, and in recent months, new information came to light which has led to some police activity in the North Yorkshire area.
“Disruption to the local community will be/was kept to a minimum, with no wider risk or threat to the public
“We continue to do all we can to find Rania and we will act on all available lines of enquiry when it is possible to do so to help bring some form of closure to her loved ones eleven years on.”
The authorities, previously helped by military officials, have concentrated their efforts in several laybys next to the A168/A19 near Thirsk over the years.
Cops believed in 2013 a white camper van had been used to get rid of Rania’s body.
A vehicle matching this description was parked in a layby near the A19 in the early hours of Saturday, June 8, 2013.
In the months that followed, officers were seen searching a layby near the B1448 turn-off at Thirsk.
The force stepped up their efforts again in October last year, and were spotted using a digger and a cadaver dog in the A19 area.
AN HONOUR KILLING THAT SHOCKED THE NATION
By Paul Sims
Tragic Rania Alayed, 25, died at the hands of her evil husband Ahmed Al-Khatib, 35, for becoming “too Westernised”.
He snapped after she sought help from lawyers in a desperate bid to escape her unhappy marriage.
She fled the family home and enrolled at a college, making new friends and started a relationship with a man she met on the internet.
But she vanished in June 2013 and her body has never been found.
Al-Khatib, who was convicted of her murder and sentenced to 20 years behind bars, has never revealed where he buried her.
But in a dramatic development officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have begun to dig at the roadside on the A19 in Thirsk, North Yorks.
A digger was seen lifting swathes of turf as a team of officers – including a cadaver dog – began the painstaking search on an embankment as cars and lorries hurtled past.
GMP said it was acting on “new information” and concentrating its efforts on the outskirts of the picturesque market town.
A spokeswoman said: “We are carrying out a detailed search in relation to recovering the body of Rania Alayed.
“Following new information for a non-recent investigation, GMP’s Major Incident Team have been authorised to begin looking at land on the side of the A19 near Thirsk.
“Officers will be on location to carry out a thorough search of the area identified and will keep disruption to the local community to a minimum, with no wider risk or threat to the public.
“GMP remain committed to finding Rania and will act on all available lines of enquiry when it is possible to do so to help bring some form of closure to her loved ones ten years on.”
Al Khatib, of Manchester, was handed a minimum term of 20 years for Rania’s murder.
His brothers Muhaned and Hussain were also jailed for helping to dispose of her body.
They claimed to have dumped her somewhere on the A19 – but refused to say exactly where.
Instead, all they offered was a 19-mile stretch of the dual carriageway.
Sentencing Al Khatib, Mr Justice Leggatt said: “The contempt you showed for Rania in death matched the contempt of how you treated her in life.”
The jury at Manchester Crown Court was told Rania was invited for a meeting at the apartment of Al-Khatib’s brother Muhaned, 38, where she was killed and her body stuffed into a suitcase.
Al-Khatib tried to conceal the murder by dressing in her jeans, top and shawl and walking past CCTV cameras to give the impression she was still alive.
He and Muhaned then transferred her body to the back of a motorhome and, with another brother Hussain, 34, they drove 87 miles to Thirsk, North Yorks., where the body was believed to have been buried next to a layby.
Rania’s friends raised the alarm when she failed to return phone calls and text messages but Al-Khatib tried to make it look as if she had fled abroad.
Police arrested Al-Khatib in July 2013 and he confessed, saying he had pushed her during a row in the belief she was possessed by djinn – an evil spirit in Islamic folklore.
Muhaned pleaded guilty of perverting the course of justice and was jailed for three years, while Hussain was found guilty of the same charge and sentenced to four years.
After his conviction Detective Chief Inspector William Reade said Rania was “beginning to put an abusive and violent relationship behind her and had genuine cause to be optimistic for the future”.
“But her husband snatched it all away in the cruellest and most despicable way possible.”
He described Rania’s murder as “both sickening and chilling in the extreme”.
He added: “Make no mistake, this was an honour killing – Al-Khatib’s murderous actions were motivated by his outrage and jealousy that Rania would attempt to take control of her own life and live a more westernised life.”
DCI Reade added that the force would “employ the most hi-tech methods” to continue the search for her body “she can be given the dignified burial she deserves”.
Al-Khatib was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison in In June 2014.
His brother Muhanned Al-Khatib, of Salford, was found not guilty of murder.
But. he admitted perverting the course of justice by hiding Rania’s body and was jailed for three years.
Manchester Crown Court heard at the trial that Al-Khatib was an abusive husband and murdered Rania for leaving him.
The prosecution told the jury he killer her for becoming “too Westernised”.
The 25-year-old mum-of-three had moved from Norton to Manchester in January 2013, and previously lived in Middlesbrough.