How did Annie’s body end up on a Scottish beach?

After Annie Börjesson's assemblage was recovered connected a formation successful Scotland successful 2005, constabulary maintained her decease was a termination oregon an accident. For years Annie's household and friends person called for further probe and present a BBC documentary bid looks into the case.

When Annie arrived successful Edinburgh successful 2004, from Sweden, she enrolled successful English classes and aboriginal began moving astatine a tourer hotspot.

The 30-year-old could already talk six languages, she was a talented vocalist and her friends picture her arsenic chatty and lively.

"Annie was a beauteous young pistillate and was similar a sister to me," 1 of her closest friends, Maria Jansson, remembers. "She was independent, she was beardown with her long, heavy blonde hair. She was similar a Viking princess."

In December 2005, Annie told her friends and household backmost location successful Sweden she was readying to instrumentality location for a sojourn implicit Christmas.

She near her level successful Edinburgh connected the day of Saturday 3 December with a packed question container and her passport. She'd besides paid beforehand rent connected her flat, had booked a hairsbreadth assignment successful Sweden and was carrying room books to instrumentality successful her location country.

Later that day, CCTV astatine Prestwick Airport picked up footage of Annie entering the terminal astatine 15:14. In the footage, she walks into the airdrome for astir 5 minutes past exits the aforesaid mode she came.

It's unclear wherefore she near the airport, but the adjacent confirmed sighting of Annie would beryllium erstwhile her assemblage was recovered look down connected Prestwick beach, conscionable implicit a mile away, the adjacent day.

She was discovered by a canine walker - and her belongings were scattered astir her.

Police astatine the clip deemed the astir apt origin of decease to beryllium termination oregon an accident, but her loved ones ever had questions.

Now a BBC documentary has spent a twelvemonth looking again astatine Annie's case, saying determination are questions to reply implicit the archetypal probe by authorities and that caller worldly has emerged successful the years since.

And the squad down the film, Rogan Productions, has written a submission to the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU) - which investigates sudden, suspicious, accidental and unexplained deaths - arguing that it should re-examine what happened to Annie.

Her decease was reported arsenic suicide, but her household believes otherwise. How did Annie Börjesson die? Journalist Hazel Martin looks into the case.

Available connected BBC iPlayer from Tuesday 4 July.

Although constabulary accidental determination is nary grounds that criminality was progressive successful Annie's death, Maria has agelong called for a re-examination of the case.

She says 18 years is "an inhumanly agelong time" for Annie's loved ones to hold for answers, adding: "We would ne'er person enactment ourselves done this nightmare if we each did not powerfully judge that Annie was murdered."

Among the 11 points included successful the SFIU submission missive is the discrepancy astir Annie's post-mortem and markings connected her body.

The archetypal authoritative Scottish post-mortem carried retired 3 days aft her assemblage was recovered said determination was nary grounds of trauma to Annie's body.

But Swedish undertaker Gun Daneberg, who received Annie's assemblage erstwhile it was backmost successful her location state and handled the funeral, told the documentary that successful her vocation spanning 4 decades she had "never experienced thing similar this before, you don't forget". Not formally asked to analyse the body, she adds: "When we opened the coffin, I inactive retrieve seeing digit marks astir her neck. Two marks, I retrieve them truthful clearly."

The submission missive besides points to the refusal of constabulary and Scotland's Crown Office, the country's nationalist prosecution work and decease probe authority, to merchandise accusation that relates to Annie's lawsuit to her family, including photographs taken by the constabulary of the assemblage astatine the clip of the post-mortem.

Police person argued determination was not beardown capable nationalist involvement successful the photos and that they would beryllium distressing for the household to see.

The missive goes connected to sermon laboratory grounds that Annie had types of micro-organism successful her strategy which suggest she whitethorn person drowned successful freshwater alternatively of saltwater, which is what you would person expected astatine Prestwick beach.

Although Annie told radical adjacent to her she was anxious successful the days starring up to her death, friends who saw her cull the thought that she took her ain life.

When she visited her person and workfellow Kat Dalmo 2 days earlier her assemblage was found, Kat says she "was successful a bully mood, she didn't look depressed astatine all, it doesn't adhd up".

Confirming the findings of the constabulary investigation, Michael Neill, a detective who was connected work the greeting Annie's assemblage was found, says: "There was ne'er thing astatine each to bespeak that determination was immoderate criminality progressive successful Annie's death."

But Dr Stuart Hamilton, a forensic pathologist for 15 years who was consulted for the BBC documentary, says it would beryllium adjuvant for the household to person the lawsuit re-examined.

The circumstances astir Annie's drowning are not clear, successful his view, and further probe into the lawsuit could beryllium "valuable".

"I think, if thing else, to easiness the minds of the radical who loved her," Dr Hamilton says.

Confirming receipt of the submission, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which looks aft the SFIU, said that though they see the archetypal decision of Annie's decease to beryllium supported by each disposable evidence, they are ever unfastened to caller grounds and volition support her household informed of immoderate developments.

And Det Supt Paul Livingstone, from Police Scotland's specializer transgression division, said: "We recognize however distressing this indispensable beryllium for household and friends," adding that Annie's decease was afloat investigated and determination was nary grounds of criminality.

Additional reporting by Shola Lee and Harvey Day.

BBC images courtesy: Rogan Scotland