They are keen to trace other drivers who may have seen her in a distinctive 'boy racer' car which took her to Thorne police station in a collapsed state in the early hours of last Saturday.

Twenty-year-old Michelle - whose daughter should be celebrating her second birthday on Monday - was strangled and died shortly afterwards in Doncaster Royal Infirmary.

A black Citroën Saxo which took her to the police station in Durham Avenue has been seized by detectives and is undergoing forensic examination.

Michelle, a nursery nurse, is known to have been on a night out in Doncaster on Friday and left the town centre at 2.50am.

Detectives want to hear from anyone who saw the Saxo on the road between Fishlake and Thorne, or parked in a layby near the junction of Ferry Road and Selby Road at Jubilee Bridge between 3am and 4am on Saturday.

Det Supt Colin Fisher, leading the murder enquiry, said: "The car used to take Michelle to Thorne police station is a black three-door Citroën Saxo with blacked-out rear windows and a large exhaust pipe. The registration plate, YS52 VUJ, has a distinctive Playboy bunny motif on it.

"We are hoping local people can identify its movements to us if they saw it near Jubilee Bridge at that time, of if they drove past at that time and did not see it there."

Det Supt Fisher's officers have established Michelle was definitely at the Jubilee Bridge layby because her mobile phone was found there. Calls from it are being analysed.

He said Michelle came from a good family and they have been "absolutely devastated and are finding it very difficult to come to terms with their loss".

It is understood Michelle had been in an on-off romantic relationship for some months.

In a statement her family said: "Michelle was a beautiful, hard working, thoughtful, loving 20-year-old woman and a wonderful and doting mum to a gorgeous little girl. She was full of life with dreams for both herself and her daughter. We all love her deeply, now and forever."

Anyone with information should contact the incident room on 01302 385333.

Jason Marley, aged 28, of Church Road, Stainforth, has been remanded until next Monday on a charge of murdering Michelle.

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