Rania Alayed: New information prompts A19 search near Thirsk for missing murdered wife

Police are searching the A19 in North Yorkshire for the body murdered wife Rania Alayed who went missing ten years ago.

Greater Manchester Police have confirmed that new information has prompted the search near Thirsk.

Ms Alayed, 25, was last seen in June 2013. In 2014, her husband Ahmed Al-Khatib was handed a minimum 20-year jail term for her murder following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Cadaver dogs, which are specially trained to locate human remains in the most difficult of situations, have been brought in to help the search.

In a statement, Greater Manchester Police said: "Greater Manchester Police is carrying out a detailed search in relation to recovering the body of Rania Alayed.

"Following new information for a non-recent investigation, GMP’s Major Incident Team have been authorised to begin looking at land on the side of the A19 near Thirsk.

"Officers will be on location to carry out a thorough search of the area identified and will keep disruption to the local community to a minimum, with no wider risk or threat to the public.

"GMP remain committed to finding Rania and will act on all available lines of enquiry when it is possible to do so to help bring some form of closure to her loved ones ten years on."

Ms Alayed was born in Syria in 1987 and came to Britain with her husband to escape conflict in the Middle East and to seek a safer life.

They set up home on Teesside where neighbours remembered her as a "lovely woman" who kept herself to herself.

The family later moved to Greater Manchester.

A trial at Manchester Crown Court in 2014 heard that Ms Alayed was experiencing increasing domestic violence, as her husband grew resentful and jealous of her efforts to improve her life, including enrolling at a college to study English.

In January 2013, she left her husband in an effort to escape his abuse. Six months later, she was invited to a flat in Salford, where her husband lay in wait. Police believe she was murdered a short time later.

Ahmed Al-Khatib was sentenced to a minimum 20 years in prison.

His brother Muhaned Al-Khatib was acquitted of murder but was jailed for three years after admitting perverting the course of justice.

Another brother, Hussain Al-Khateeb, was given a four year jail term after he was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

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