Advertisement

Becky Watts: Police Appeal After Car Is Seized

Police investigating the disappearance of Becky Watts have seized a car and are trying to piece together where it was over a four-day period.

Detectives want to speak to former owners of the black Vauxhall Zafira - registration HY06 HYA - and to members of the public who saw the car between 19 and 23 February.

Police have also been given a further 36 hours to question two people arrested in connection with the investigation.

The hunt for the missing 16-year-old has been intensified - with six specialist teams searching locations within a 1.6-mile radius of her Bristol home.

Local parks and a nature reserve have been combed, while divers have searched a lake.

Forensic teams are searching three houses - in the Southmead and Barton Hill areas and the family home in St George - while a dog unit and a police helicopter are due to be used today.

Becky was last seen at her home in Crown Hill, in the St George area, on 19 February.

Police said she took her phone, laptop and tablet computer out with her, but did not tell her friends or family where she was going, or take extra clothes.

It had been hoped that the discovery of a laptop in woodland not far from her home could be a breakthrough in the case - but it has now been established that it is not hers.

Becky's father and step-mum Darren and Angie-Mae Galsworthy have released a statement saying they are preparing "for the worst".

The teenager, described as shy, was reported missing by her family at 4pm on February 20.

The organisers of a public search to find Becky say they are waiting for permission to carry out another one on Tuesday.

A statement on the FIND Rebecca WATTS page said: "Just waiting for approval about a search being planed for Tuesday the 3rd around 4pm.

"Please keep it free and as soon as it gets approved information will be uploaded. Want to really step this one up a gear with numbers. We will stay positive!"

Earlier, the leading officer in the case, Detective Superintendent Liz Tunks, said: "Firstly, I would like to reiterate my message ... that our search for Becky continues unabated and we are using all available resources to find her.

"Secondly, I would like to extend my thanks to the local communities in St George and the wider Bristol area who have assisted with our search efforts so far.

"The sheer number of people who have shown support during the public searches has been incredible. I would ask that all planned public searches are coordinated through us so they dovetail with the extensive search operation we have been running."