manhunt for killer of 'gentle' great-grandmother found battered to death

Rose Johnston was found dead in her home (Picture: Merseyside Police)

A ‘gentle’ pensioner suffered ‘blunt force trauma’ to her head with her killer still on the loose.

The body of Rose Johnston,68,was discovered at her terraced home in Dovecot on Saturday.

The great-grandmother was well known on her estate and regularly seen going on walks,according to police,who are asking for any suspicious people seen close to her home to be reported.

A Home Office post-mortem gave the tutor and special needs volunteer’s cause of death as a blunt force head injury.

A murder investigation was launched by Merseyside Police.

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Start your day informed with Metro's News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.The Johnston family said: ‘Mum was kind,caring,compassionate,friendly,unassuming and gentle. She was so intelligent,funny and sarcastic.‘Mum was a tutor working in adult education for many years and she spent recent years volunteering for the Nugent group working with people with special educational needs and even though she didn’t have very much,would always buy donations for the foodbank every time she did her shopping.‘She was a very private person,but was truly family orientated. Mum always looked out for and always cared for her whole family,often putting everyone else before herself.’Police at the scene at Rose’s home in Ancroft Road,Dovecot (Picture: LIVERPOOL ECHO)Officers are going house-to-house,with CCTV and forensic enquiries still being carried out in the neighbourhood.Her family added: ‘She is going to be sadly missed by all of us. We just can’t understand who would want to hurt her this way and can’t understand why,after the challenges she has faced in her life,someone would do this to my lovely mum.’Murder detectives are appealing for anyone who saw anyone acting suspiciously in the area around Ancroft Road and Rose’s home address to come forward. DCI Catherine Walsh said: ‘The investigation is moving at a pace and we are carrying out a number of lines of enquiry and speaking to friends and neighbours to build a picture of Rose’s life.‘We know that she was a very private woman and that she liked to walk around the estate where she lived.‘We would ask anyone who saw Rose on one of her walks during the past week to let us know. Similarly,anyone who thinks they saw anyone acting suspiciously or thinks they captured something significant on their car dashcam or doorbell camera is asked to