The mother of a teenage girl has passed away just weeks before a man accused of killing her daughter is set to go on trial. Lorinda Hall, aged 70, peacefully passed away at Ipswich Hospital on December 18. Unfortunately, she passed away without seeing justice served for her daughter Victoria, who went missing in 1999 after leaving a nightclub in Felixstowe, Suffolk. Victoria’s body was discovered five days later in a water-filled ditch located 25 miles away near Stowmarket.
The news of Lorinda’s death made headlines, and her family has been waiting for answers for 27 years. Serial killer Steve Wright, aged 67, was charged with the abduction and murder of Victoria in 2024 following a cold case review by the police. Wright pleaded not guilty to the charges and is scheduled to stand trial at the Old Bailey next month.
Lorinda was laid to rest recently at the Seven Hills Crematorium in Nacton near Ipswich. In a funeral notice, she was described as a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother to her two grandchildren, and her family and friends will greatly miss her. To honor her memory, well-wishers have raised nearly £1,000 for East Anglia’s Children’s.
On the evening of September 18, 1999, Victoria left her home in Trimley St Mary to go to the Bandbox nightclub in Felixstowe. She walked home with her friend Gemma Algar and they parted ways around 2:20 am on September 19. Unfortunately, Victoria’s body was found in a ditch in Creeting St Peter five days later, sparking a widespread search, media appeals, and a reward offer.
Wright, previously residing on London Road in Ipswich, pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. The jury in the case was informed by Mr. Justice Bennathan about Wright’s prior convictions for the murder of five women. Wright’s trial is set to commence on February 2 and is expected to last for four weeks.
Wright is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of five women in Ipswich in 2006. He was found guilty of killing Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol, Anneli Alderton, Paula Clennell, and Annette Nicholls before discarding their bodies.
