Pub Landlord 'May Have Killed Himself'

A pub landlord who vanished after £30,000 disappeared from a Christmas thrift fund may have killed himself, police believe.

Malcolm Levesconte, 59, was last seen on December 9 at the Royal Oak pub in Shrewton, near Salisbury.

Later that evening, he boarded a ferry at Portsmouth to St Malo in France and police launched a missing persons inquiry.

It is understood that a suicide note has been found.

Detective Sergeant Mike Standing, from Wiltshire Police, said: "We continue to treat Malcolm Levesconte's disappearance as a missing person inquiry but at this stage we do have to accept there is a possibility that he did not make it to France and may have taken his own life by jumping into the sea from the ferry.

"I would like to appeal to anyone who has information to come and speak to us - his family are facing the terrible prospect that he may have committed suicide.

"It is therefore imperative that we hear from you if you have heard from Mr Levesconte."

Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "(Police) thought initially that he had stolen the money and then vanished, perhaps to go to Europe to spend it, but it now appears that the money has already been used."

Officers are writing to 61 customers at the pub following the theft of the money, which was collected by Mr Levesconte.