Police recover 'finds' from woods in search for missing Southend grandmother Patricia Finnie

Searches are being carried out after a murder inquiry was launched into the disappearance of Patricia Finnie. Credit: Essex Police
Patricia Finnie was last seen in May 2017, with police now treating her disappearance as a homicide Credit: Essex Police

Police investigating the suspected killing of a grandmother who went missing six years ago have completed a search of woodland.

Officers looking into the disappearance of Patricia Finnie, who went missing from Southend in 2017, have been searching nearby Hockley Woods for a week.

Essex Police said they were now investigating a number of items found in the area to see if they were connected to Mrs Finnie's disappearance.

The search began after a man in his 70s was arrested on suspicion of murdering her.

She was 64 when she went missing from Southend on 11 May 2017, having last been seen in the Bellevue area after visiting a friend.

Police have been searching the woods for a week Credit: Essex Police

Her disappearance has been reviewed by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate and is now being treated as murder.

Det Supt Rob Kirby said: “This was painstaking work and we recovered a number of items and work remains ongoing to ascertain if they are linked to Patricia’s disappearance.

“Our investigation into what happened to Patricia is continuing and I still need anyone who has information to contact us.”

The man arrested on suspicion of Mrs Finnie's murder is on bail until 10 September.

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