Police investigating a girl's disappearance in 1973 are looking at possible links with the Joe Kappen case, in which DNA from his exhumed body implicated him in three murders.

Humberside Police revealed on Tuesday they are re-examining the disappearance of nine-year-old Christine Markham.

It is understood Mr Kappen lived in lodgings in the Humberside area soon after Christine's disappearance in May 1973.

Last Thursday, South Wales Police confirmed DNA samples taken from the remains of Mr Kappen matched samples taken from the three 16-year-old victims.

Christine has not been seen for 29 years

Mr Kappen was originally a suspect in the South Wales murders of friends Pauline Floyd and Geraldine Hughes in September 1973 and Sandra Newton in July 1973.

Christine disappeared from her home in Robinson Road, Scunthorpe, on May 21, 1973 and has not been seen since.

During August and September 1973, Mr Kappen is thought to have lodged in the Gainsborough area and worked as a contracted lorry driver in Scunthorpe.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman said: "The latest information suggesting Mr Kappen could be responsible for the deaths of three Welsh girls makes it appropriate for us to look at the time he may have spent in Scunthorpe.

"Two officers from Humberside Police are planning to visit South Wales Police in the coming weeks and information will be shared between the two forces."

Joe Kappen lodged in the Scunthorpe area in 1973

Humberside Police said without a crime scene there was no DNA evidence available and there were "differences" between the murders in Wales and the disappearance of Christine.

Mr Kappen died from cancer at the age of 49 in 1990.

Following the new evidence, South Wales Police said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the murders.

Detective Chief Superintendent Wynne Phillips said while the DNA results were conclusive, because Mr Kappen cannot stand trial police would never be able to say definitively that he committed the murders.

However, the detective said that if he had been alive, Mr Kappen would more than likely have been charged with the girls' murders in Wales.