Update on Tandle Hill Country Park investigation

We’ve concluded our searches of Tandle Hill Country Park as part of an investigation into how a 17-year-old girl may have come to harm last Friday (20 March 2026).

We began our enquiries on Saturday 21 March after receiving a report from the hospital that a girl was in pain and may have come to harm. We know that hospital staff have been able establish scratches on the girl’s back.

We still don’t know the nature of the incident but are working with forensic specialists to try and establish further information as soon as we can.

The girl is being fully supported by officers. We continue to work closely at her pace, as we progress our ongoing enquiries. 

We appreciate that information is currently limited, however we have taken the report seriously and have carried out a comprehensive search of the park as part of an investigation to determine whether or not a crime had occurred.

All lines of enquiry at the park have been explored and our scenes have now been closed. We thank the public for their patience and co-operation during this time.

Anyone with information  which may assist the police investigation, should contact us on 101 and LiveChat  quoting Log 2161 21/03/26.

 Detective Chief Inspector Kevin Johnston, of GMP’s Oldham CID said: “I appreciate our searches this week will have brought concern and disruption as a result of our work since the weekend. At the centre of this is a 17-year-old girl who we are working with to try and understand what may have occurred to her. 

“Given the report we received was that the girl may have come to harm, we have absolutely taken this seriously to explore all available forensic and evidential opportunities. This is particularly the case while we have little detail on what exactly may have happened.

“It is important to understand that the girl is experiencing distress, and we are working at her pace to establish exactly what, if anything, she can recall.

“We also have forensic specialists supporting our investigation and we await the results of their testing.

“While the circumstances around this are unclear, we are doing all we can to identify what has happened here as soon as we can so we can reassure the public there is no wider risk.

“We have had no reports since this incident in the nearby area to suggest there is an ongoing risk to the public. I ask anyone with information to contact us, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to help our enquiries.”