A body found on farmland three weeks ago was that of a teenager who was murdered after she disappeared a decade ago, police said on Monday.
Vulnerable Rachel Wilson, 19, went missing from the Southfield Road area of Middlesbrough, where she was a sex worker, in May 2002.
Cleveland Police confirmed that human remains found at Newham Hall Farm on the outskirts of Middlesbrough were hers.
Rachel Wilson's body was found on a farmland, 10 years after she went missing
The force has long believed Miss Wilson was killed, and will confirm that at a news conference this afternoon.
A 57-year-old man was arrested in 2003 following her disappearance but released without charge.
At one point 100 officers were working on the investigation, which has been led by several senior figures over the last decade.
A police spokeswoman said: "Police have now identified the body found on farmland on the outskirts of Middlesbrough a few weeks ago and can confirm it is that of Rachel Wilson who went missing just over 10 years ago."
Cleveland Police are investigating possible links with the disappearance of two other women.
Vicky Glass was 21 when she vanished from Middlesbrough town centre in September 2000. Her naked body was found on moorland near Danby, North Yorkshire, six weeks later.
Donna Keogh was 17 when she went missing from a Middlesbrough house party in 1998, and police believe she was murdered although no body has ever been found.
Speaking on the 10th anniversary of Miss Wilson's disappearance in May, Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Gordon Lang said: "Rachel visited her family regularly, and was always in touch with one of them on a daily basis.
"Someone somewhere has knowledge of where she went and what happened to her all those years ago, and I am appealing for them to get in touch and tell us what they know.
"Last November we released CCTV footage of Rachel in Middlesbrough town centre and today, 10 years on from her disappearance, we are hoping to uncover what happened to her and bring closure for her family."