Police question pair on suspicion of murdering Worcester student

Detectives are questioning two men on suspicion of murdering an 18-year-old student who went missing after a night out during freshers’ week in Worcester.

Police and fire and rescue divers are searching the River Severn close to where Thomas Jones is believed to have disappeared last week.

A friend who has launched a Facebook page devoted to helping find the teenager said Jones had phoned his flatmate saying he was a couple of minutes from home just before he disappeared.

Jones was last seen in the early hours of 19 September. Two 20-year-old men are in custody, West Mercia police said.

Jones is thought to have crossed the Sabrina footbridge before walking on to the footpath along the top of the flood defences on Hylton Road towards the village of Hallow just before 3.50am.

Members of the public have been asked to stay away from the area while divers and officers conduct a search.

Supt Damian Pettit said: “Officers are working around the clock to try to locate Thomas. The community of Worcester has really pulled together and I would like to thank everyone who has come forward with information, as well as to the hundreds of volunteers who have been supporting the investigation.

“We are continuing the investigation with a number of lines of inquiry and will keep the community updated. Thomas’s family has been made aware of the updates and they are being supported by specially trained officers.”

Jones had been due to attend his first lecture for his primary education course on Monday.

His friend, Harley Hetherington, 18, who was beginning the same course, said he had seen him in the Velvet nightclub just before he went missing.

“He seemed absolutely fine. He was behaving normally and didn’t seemed intoxicated at all. He was his usual bubbly self, looking forward to starting uni,” he said.

“Tom phoned his mum and then his new flatmate to tell him he was two minutes away from home before he disappeared. Nobody can quite understand how its happened. He was quite close to getting home safe and had told people he was fine right up until the point he went missing.”

Jones’s aunt Jackie Rogers said: “He’s a little-ish lad, but big in personality. To go missing is totally out of character for him.”

Rogers said Jones had been with his father watching the football team he supports, West Bromwich Albion, on Wednesday before he went out in Worcester.

Anyone with information can call 101 quoting incident number 431s of 19 September, or alternatively Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.