Discovery in Hagley Woods

• 🌳 In April 1943, teenage boys in Worcestershire, England, discovered a woman's skeleton inside a hollow wych elm tree in Hagley Woods.
• 🔍 The police investigation found the entire skeleton (except one hand), fabric remnants, a gold ring, and a blue shoe.
• ⚠️ A piece of taffeta fabric was found in the woman's mouth, suggesting she may have been suffocated.

Medical Examination Findings

• 🔬 Medical examiner James Webster estimated the woman died around October 1941, was approximately 35 years old, and was five feet tall.
• 🦷 Distinctive features included light brown hair and protruding, crooked teeth. She had also given birth to at least one child.
• 🔪 Webster concluded it was a murder, as the body was tightly jammed into the tree, and rigor mortis would have made it impossible if she died elsewhere.

The Mystery of the Graffiti

• ✍️ In 1944, graffiti appeared on an abandoned building asking "Who put Lubella down the witch elm," later evolving to "Bella" and using the spelling "witch" (w-i-t-c-h).
• 🚨 This graffiti revitalized the cold case and provided a name, "Bella," for investigators to pursue, though no missing persons matched the description.
• 🖼️ In 2018, a facial reconstruction expert recreated Bella's features from crime scene photos, highlighting her unique crooked teeth.

Debunked Spy Theories

• 🕵️‍♀️ The "Bella the Spy" theory emerged from anonymous letters by Una Mossop, who accused her husband, Jack, of killing Bella, a Dutch Nazi informant. Jack reportedly died insane from guilt.
• 🎭 Another theory identified Bella as Clara Bauerle, a German actress and spy who disappeared in 1941, matching the estimated age and career end.
• ❌ Both spy theories were debunked: Una's story lacked evidence, and Bauerle was ten inches taller than Bella and died in Berlin in 1942.

Witchcraft and Local Folklore

• 🧙‍♀️ A witchcraft theory suggested Bella was a victim of an occult ritual, possibly linked to the "Hand of Glory" ceremony, which involves a missing hand.
• 🏘️ Local stories included Bella being a prostitute who disappeared in 1941, a barmaid killed by a foreign military member, or a homeless woman with no one to report her missing.
• 🌲 Another theory proposed she sought shelter in the tree during a World War II air raid and became trapped.