Mum working as door to door debt collector vanishes... then is found dead
A Man was being held on suspicion of murder last night after police searching for a mother who vanished while working as a debt collector found a body.
Tina Cantello, 49, was on her way to the last of three door-to-door collection jobs when she disappeared on Friday evening.
Her body was found in a house around two miles from where her family believe she was last seen, and a mile from her mobile phone, which was recovered from a roadside in Basildon, Essex.
Essex Police said a body was discovered at a house in the Langdon Hills district of the town at 6pm on Saturday.
Formal identification was last night still to take place, but police said the search for Mrs Cantello had been suspended.
James Taylor, the boyfriend of Mrs Cantello’s daughter Aimee, said in a Facebook appeal prior to the discovery on Saturday that 4ft 11in Mrs Cantello left her home in the Laindon area of the town at around 5pm to do her loan-collecting rounds.
He added: ‘Her work phone was found in a different area in Durham Road in Laindon where her final phone activity was recorded.
‘We believe she was last seen around the Deacon Drive area.
‘Police are investigating, they found her phone on the side of the road.
‘There is a woodland area nearby and police did search that area too.
‘We have seen police dotted everywhere all around Laindon.’
Mrs Cantello was last seen by her partner, Steve, that evening before she left for work. Mr Taylor said her disappearance had been ‘100 per cent out of character’, adding: ‘Tina is a very homely person, no way would she leave her home. There has been a family grievance recently so we’re thinking she may have gone out to clear her head so that’s what we’re clinging to because they haven’t found Tina or her car.’
The family raised the alarm with police after Mrs Cantello, who is also believed to have had a son, Sam, 27, failed to return home as expected at 7.30pm.
Rhonda Croucher, 36, knew Mrs Cantello up until earlier this year, when the debt collection agent called weekly to collect money owed on a loan.
Mrs Croucher, from Basildon, said: ‘Tina had an unenviable job but she was just the sort of person you would want to have calling on you in the situation I found myself in.
‘She was always smiling, bright and bubbly – she really was the best person for that job.’
Mrs Croucher said she last saw Mrs Cantello two months ago, prior to her move to a different part of Basildon.
She added: ‘Tina’s round didn’t cover my new neighbourhood so I haven’t seen her since then.
‘She was just a lovely lady. I was praying for her to be found safe and well.’
And Mrs Cantello’s friend Emma Lee, 34, who visited the crime scene to lay flowers yesterday, told the Telegraph: ‘I was a good friend to her.
‘She was a bubbly, lovely and caring lady. I don’t understand how anyone would want to hurt her.’
A 38- year- old man from Basildon remained under arrest last night.
Essex Police said in a statement: ‘Sadly, at just before 6pm on Saturday June 9, the body of a woman was found at a property in Derby Close, Langdon Hills. The search for Tina has now been suspended and next of kin have been informed. A 38-year-old man from Basildon has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.’
It is not known if Mrs Cantello’s silver Mini had yet been recovered.
‘She was a caring lady’