Human remains found at second site in hunt for missing Catherine

Michael Lavery

police search teams involved in the hunt for Irish vet Catherine Gowing have sealed off a second area where human remains have been found.

Police, who have been searching for the vet since she went missing on Friday, October 12, made the discovery at around 2.15pm yesterday.

A statement from North Wales police reads: "Cheshire Police were alerted to the discovery of human remains by an off-duty Cheshire Police officer walking the banks of the River Dee in Ferry Lane, Higher Ferry, Chester."

Shallow

North Wales Police Search Team Officers deployed nearby in the continuing search for Catherine Gowing were alerted to the discovery "and co-ordinated the response and recovery", a spokesman said.

On Wednesday, search team officers discovered human remains in a shallow pool within a field in Sealand, Deeside.

Ms Gowing, who is originally from Clonlee, Co Offaly, was last seen on Friday October 12 in a supermarket near her home in Flintshire, North Wales.

A North Wales police spokesman said: "The human remains have been recovered and the immediate scene secured, pending a forensic examination and further detailed search.

"The remains will be the subject of a post mortem and forensic examination to determine formal identification."

Tests are continuing on the human remains that were found in Sealand on Wednesday, he added.

Police say the results of a PM and forensic examination will not be known until next week.

Ms Gowing was last seen at around 8.40pm three weeks ago leaving the Asda supermarket in Queensferry.

She was reported missing when she failed to arrive for work at the the Evans Veterinary Practice in Mold, Flintshire, on October 15.

Later that week, police found her Dublin-registered Renault Clio burnt out and abandoned in a disused quarry.

Quarry

Her sister Emma and her brother-in-law Shay talked with the search co-ordinator Chief Inspector Dave Roome and 30 specialist search time officers from North Wales and Cheshire Police in an "emotional meeting" at the search site in Pinfold Lane, Altami last week.

Dog teams and underwater search teams were used to scour a nearby quarry and woods in the hunt for Ms Gowing's body.

Police have devoted extensive resources to the search for Catherine Gowing.

A 46-year-old Welshman, Clive Sharpe, of no fixed address, has been charged with her murder.

Sharpe has been remanded until January 7, when he is due to enter his plea.

hnews@herald.ie