Police discover body in hunt for midwife
THE search for midwife Samantha Eastwood became a murder inquiry last night after her body was found in remote countryside seven miles from her home.
Ms Eastwood, 28, had been missing for eight days after finishing her night shift at the Royal Stoke University Hospital last Friday.
Police made the grim discovery near a quarry in an area known as Staffordshire Moorlands. Although the body is yet to be formally identified, Detective Superintendent Simon Duffy, from the Staffordshire Police’s Major and Organised Crime Department said: ‘The discovery today is not what anyone wanted and this is now a homicide investigation.
‘A 32-year-old man who was previously released on conditional bail has now been re-arrested for murder and remains in custody.’
The discovery followed an intensification of the search following analysis of CCTV footage taken near the village of Caverswall.
Ms Eastwood was last seen on CCTV as she left work and headed towards her home just before 7.45am on Friday, July 27.
A neighbour reported hearing a scream coming from her property at 2pm that afternoon and police became increasingly concerned as she ‘dropped off the radar’.
Ms Eastwood was described by her younger sister Gemma as ‘happy, bubbly and warm’ during an emotional appeal for her safe return a week after her disappearance.
Last night, police said two other men, aged 28 and 60, had been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.