MOTHER BEGS FOR HELP AS MURDER INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED FOR MISSING NATALIE JENKINS

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 30 Jan 2020 • 14:11

Natalie's mother, Sylvia Jenkins: "I am begging people to come forward"

Detectives investigating the disappearance of missing woman Natalie Jenkins have NOW launched a murder investigation.

The 32-year-old went missing from Middlesbrough in early December and has not been seen in over seven weeks. Her family, who she is usually in regular contact with, say they have not heard from her since her disappearance.

Officers say Natalie is particularly vulnerable, as she is a sex worker and drug user, and they now believe she may have come to ‘serious harm’. Her mother, Sylvia Jenkins, wept as she read a statement, saying: “I am begging people to come forward. Someone knows what has happened to Natalie and if they come forward to tell the police, I would help them.”

Detectives are looking through 1,000 hours of CCTV as part of their investigations and have spoken to hundreds of people so far.

At a news conference in Middlesbrough, Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dimelow, of Cleveland Police, said the force was treating her disappearance as a suspected murder.