'Nothing found': Police conclude search at Pudsey site in Patricia Hall investigation
“Patricia’s family have been informed, and we will be keeping them updated.” 🚨
Police have issued an update after officers concluded a search for evidence relating to the disappearance of a woman in Leeds more than thirty years ago.
Mother-of-two Patricia Hall was last seen on January 27, 1992, and has been missing ever since. A fresh search at a site in Fulneck, Pudsey started on Friday (August 7) and continued over the weekend.
In an update, a spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police confirmed that the work at the site has now concluded. Nothing has been found, the force said.
Officers from the Major Investigation Review Team examined the site. They could be seen with what appeared to be evidence bags as a digger removed soil from the corner of a car park near to the entrance of the Fulneck Moravian Settlement.
The search for potential evidence was launched after the team received recent information, but it was described as being carried out on a speculative basis. West Yorkshire Police stressed that there was nothing to suggest any link to the Moravian Church, which owns the site.
Assistant Chief Constable Sarah Jones, lead for the force’s Specialist Crime and Criminal Justice, previously said: “We are conscious of the understandable public focus that this activity is likely to attract in this high-profile case.
“Patricia’s family have been informed, and we will be keeping them updated.
“We obviously have a duty to act on any new information we receive but at this stage we are keeping an open mind.
“The Major Investigation Review Team carried out a thorough cold case review into Patricia’s disappearance which concluded last year without establishing any new lines of enquiry.
“We would welcome any new or additional information that could assist us in getting Patricia’s family the answers we know they still desperately need.”
In April this year, an inquest into Patricia’s death was opened and adjourned.