POLICE have confirmed the identity of a south-east Asian woman whose body was discovered in a remote hillside stream in the Yorkshire Dales.

Her remains were discovered by a group of walkers on the Pennine Way between Pen-y-Ghent and Horton-in-Ribblesdale, on September 20 2004.

As a result of extensive inquiries and DNA testing with family members in Thailand, North Yorkshire Police's Major Investigation Team’s Cold Case Review Unit believe the woman is Lamduan Armitage nee Seekanya.

Officers are now appealing for information from the UK and Thailand.

Lamduan, who would now be aged 51 and was married with three children, is originally from the Udon Thani province in north east Thailand.

Police are continuing to build a picture of Lamduan’s life in Thailand and at various places she lived in the UK between 1991 and 2004, including Portsmouth, in Hampshire; Rugby in Warwickshire and Preston, Lancashire.

It is also understood that Lamduan visited Thailand at some point between 2003 and 2004, but it is not known which part of the country she went to.

Police are working with the Crown Prosecution Service to obtain the legal authority to interview members of Lamduan’s family and conduct inquiries in Thailand with the co-operation and assistance of the Thai authorities, as well as conducting inquires in the UK.

Investigating officers said last year that she may have been brought to Britain as a "Thai bride."

A cause of death has never been established and an inquest in May 2007 recorded an open verdict, with a post-mortem examination indicating she had been dead between one and three weeks before her body was found.

Cold case reviewers added at the time that tests on the woman’s hair suggested she had settled in north Lancashire or south Cumbria.

She has been described as being 4ft 11in tall, with dark-brown shoulder-length hair, weighing around 10 stone.

Detectives are seeking information from anyone who knew Lamduan or her family between 1991 and up to the time she died in September 2004.

"No matter how small or seemingly insignificant you think the information is, it could prove to be very important to help us establish details about Lamduan’s life and the circumstances surrounding her death," said a police spokesman.

Anyone with information should call 01609 643147. Information can also be uploaded to the major incident public portal at www.mipp.police.uk