Private eyes & the missing £53,000
CAMPAIGNERS blamed police for “lacking basic resources” to handle calls from the public. A JustGiving site set up by Cheryl Hickman said: “The police investigation team – through a combination of lack of resources, intransigence and incompetence – have failed to capture and process vital evidence and still lack the basic resources to efficiently process a tiny number of phone calls per week.” Suffolk Police categorically denied this but failed to correct continued public statements by campaigners that the police were struggling. More than 5000 well-wishers raised £53,000 – but so far no public accounts have been published, despite promises on the JustGiving site. The money was allegedly used to fund private investigators. But Suffolk Police said the private probe created no new lines of enquiry. The private eyes provided a single disk of information relating to the FindCorrie Facebook page. Corrie’s dad Martin said: “I feel sorry for the well-wishers who donated their hard-earned money. I wonder where that money has gone.” Campaigners’ posters gave five mobile phone numbers “answered by Corrie’s family and friends” instead of the official police hotline. Det Supt Elliott said: “Naturally we’d have wanted the information to come into the investigation team but it wasn’t within our remit to stipulate exactly how that should happen.” The Record has tried to contact Miss Hickman for a comment.