Search for missing Valley Walk Kettering teen intensifies
News reaching us revealed that detectives are preparing to excavate an area of land in Kettering as part of their search for the body of missing teenager Sarah Benford.
Sarah has not been seen alive since April 6, 2000 when she went missing from her care home in Northampton, before a murder probe was launched three years later.
A number of suspects have been arrested since Sarah’s disappearance, and searches have been conducted in Kettering, London and Wales, but nobody has ever been charged.
Now, Northampton shire Police said they would begin excavating a 70-metre by 70-metre area in Kettering after receiving “significant intelligence”.
On Monday, following intelligence obtained by the force’s Major Investigation Team, searches are set to begin on an area of open space land in the Valley Walk area of the town.
The site will be cordoned off until the excavation, expected to last two weeks, is complete.
The force said specialist search teams will be assisted by forensic archaeologists, and penetration radar equipment will be deployed to assess any movement on the section of land under investigation.
Dozens of officers will provide scene guard support throughout the dig and the area will be screened off from the public while the search is happening.
Detective Superintendent Joe Banfield who is leading the Northampton shire Police operation, said: “We have received significant intelligence which has pointed us to this site as a possible area of interest.
“Sarah went missing more than 21 years ago now, but we have never given up trying to find her body and, potentially, tracing her killer or killers. We have informed Sarah’s family and they are supportive of the operation being carried out today. We will be in close contact with them as the excavation unfolds”.
Sarah Benford was born to her parents Vicki and her dad, who is not mentioned. At the age of eight, she started skipping school in reception and absconding from home. At the age of 14, she had been in three different children’s homes.
She used drugs and often went missing. She was reported missing on March 31st, 2000, and was found on April 2. The following day she went missing again.
Anybody with information relating to Sarah’s disappearance should contact them quoting incident number 359 of 10/11/2021.
Related Topics
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Sarah Benford
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Kettering – Town In England
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Girl – Topic
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Missing person – Topic
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United Kingdom – Country In Europe
