Butcher held on suspicion of abducting missing Libby
A BUTCHER arrested on suspicion of abducting the missing student Libby Squire stopped to help her when he saw her crying at the side of the road, his sister said last night.
Paweł Rełowicz, a married father of two, was arrested on Wednesday night at his rented home in Hull, half a mile from where Miss Squire disappeared.
The 24-year-old Polish national, who works in Malton, North Yorks, allegedly offered to give her a lift home when he spotted her in a distressed state shortly after midnight on Friday Feb 1.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Mr Rełowicz’s sister, Paulina Szymanska, said he had spoken to Miss Squire on the night but insisted he had nothing to do with her disappearance.
She said: “I don’t believe my brother could do it. We were raised to be good people. He was driving and he stopped because he noticed a girl crying. She asked him to take her home, so he put her address into his sat nav, and wanted to do just that. Apparently she threw herself at him, but he pushed her away, because he is a married man.”
As detectives continued to question Mr Rełowicz, officers stepped up searches at the Oak Road playing fields, close to Miss Squire’s university home.
The area, which backs on to the River Hull, had previously been searched, but yesterday afternoon teams of officers returned in numbers.
Officers cordoned off parts of the park, including a section of path running next to the river and another in the area surrounding a fishing pond.
A specialist marine unit had previously waded through the icy waters of the pond to search for clues.
Miss Squire, a 21-year-old student of philosophy and religion, was last seen late on Thursday Jan 31, sitting on a bench close to her home on Wellesley Avenue. She had earlier been refused entry from a nightclub for being drunk and had travelled home in a taxi.
But instead of going indoors, she walked to the junction of Beverley Road and Haworth Street where she sat down on a bench. She was seen on CCTV at 11.40pm but is thought to have been at the same spot until shortly after midnight. Following the arrest of Mr Rełowicz, detectives towed away his silver Vauxhall Astra car. They were also seen removing computer equipment from the smart terrace house where he has lived for more than year.
Despite the arrest, Humberside Police said the investigation remained a missing person inquiry and their priority remained to locate Miss Squire.
Friends and neighbours of Mr Rełowicz expressed shock at his arrest, describing him as a quiet man devoted to his young family.
Brought up in the town of Chełmża in northern Poland, Mr Rełowicz, who is one of eight children, moved to the UK in 2014.
Ms Szymanska said: “He never really had any male friends. There was always a woman in his life. Before his wife, he was seeing another girl for five years and was completely devoted to her.”
He worked at Karro Food Group in Malton, where he is believed to have met his future wife in 2014. They were married last June and have two sons.
Mr Rełowicz’s landlord, who asked not be named, described him as a pleasant, polite family man, who had never caused any problems.
Iwona Reczulska, a hairdresser, who knows the couple, said: “I last saw Pawel about two weeks ago on Friday or Saturday. He was his normal self and was chatting about his kids.”
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: “The man remains in our custody, assisting us with our inquiries. We have not yet found Libby and doing so remains our top priority. Libby’s parents have been informed of the man’s arrest and we’re continuing to support them at this difficult time.”