Detectives are analysing new 'items' dug up from a back garden in the search for missing Southampton mum Joanne Sheen.

 

It comes as officers engaged in a murder investigation searched a property and carried out a dig at a home in Parsonage Road, Northam.

The mother-of-three went missing in December 2019 and police and Joanne’s family have been searching for answers ever since.

Police have been searching a property on Parsonage Road Northam since Monday for clues to her whereabouts.

A spokesperson for Hampshire police said: "We can confirm that we have been digging up ground at the Parsonage Road address as part of our enquiries into the disappearance of Joanne Sheen.

"Officers at the address have been searching for anything relevant relating to Joanne that may assist our enquiries, including her possessions or any evidence of a body.

"We have recovered a number of items that we will be investigating further over the coming weeks.

"We are treating Joanne’s disappearance as a murder investigation, however, are keeping an open mind as to what may have happened to her."

The last corroborated sighting of Joanne was on December 5, 2019, when she was last seen travelling from Fareham to Southampton with a friend.

After a missing person report was made on February 22, 2020, police began conducting enquiries and a public appeal to find her was launched on April 17, 2020.

Police have said at the time that it was not out of character for Joanne not to make contact with loved ones for some weeks on some occasions

In August 2020, police said they were searching the River Itchen for the missing mother.

Police also conducted operations on Empress Road, speaking to numerous witnesses, friends and associates.

The Mount Pleasant Road area and Mayflower Park were also searched in 2020.

One resident of Parsonage Road, who did not want to be named, told the Echo: "I heard that they were looking through the property in relation to a missing person.

"It’s so sad, and I feel really awful for the family. I hope whatever the police are doing, gets them the answers they need."