It could be murder, say police in missing mum hunt
THE boyfriend of a missing mother-of-five spoke last night of his final conversation with her as police said they were treating the disappearance as potential murder.
Sarah Wellgreen, 46, vanished from her former partner Ben Lacomba’s £330,000 four-bedroom house in New Ash Green, Kent, a fortnight ago.
The beautician had recently moved back in with Mr Lacomba, 38, with her three youngest children – six-year-old twins and a 12-year- old boy – although they had not rekindled their romance.
Taxi driver Mr Lacomba is said to be a fan of Nerf guns, the children’s toy that fires foam bullets, and would organise play-fights among friends. Detectives quizzed him for three days last week before releasing him.
Miss Wellgreen’s boyfriend, Neil James, spoke for the first time about how he panicked on the day she vanished when she failed to respond to his texts. Mr James, from Guildford, Surrey, said: ‘On the Tuesday night I spoke to Sarah on the phone at 9.24pm. The conversation went on for about 15 minutes. She said she was at home and she was in bed.
‘On Wednesday morning, I texted her about 7.50am: “morning, honey, how’s you?”, that sort of thing, and it didn’t deliver.
‘I didn’t think anything of it at first – I thought she just hadn’t charged her phone or whatever.
‘It got to lunchtime and then I tried texting her again, I tried calling her, emailing her, WhatsApp, Messenger.’
Panicking, he messaged Miss Wellgreen’s older sons, Lewis, 22, and Jack, 21, from her previous marriage to Dave Burdett.
The news that Kent Police were treating her disappearance as ‘suspicious and a potential murder’ came as it emerged the devoted mother has missed one of her children’s birthdays. Miss Wellgreen’s family desperately appealed for information after her disappearance from the secluded village on October 9.
Kent Police said her small black 4x4 had been left outside her house in the secluded village, while neither her phone nor bank cards have been used since she went missing.
Detective Superintendent Paul Fotheringham said yesterday: ‘It is entirely out of character for her to go missing and having conducted extensive inquiries and searches, this case is now being treated as a potential murder.
‘Significantly, Sarah has missed one of her children’s birthdays for which she had made plans – and that too was completely out of character.’
Miss Wellgreen’s uncle Ronald Wellgreen, 61, said: ‘ I’m gobsmacked that it could now be a potential murder investigation.
‘It’s been 15 days now. It looks to me like she could have died, but I’ve got no reason to think she was killed by someone – why would she be?’
A neighbour said: ‘I’m hoping for her children’s sake that Sarah is still alive. I’m worried sick.’
Another neighbour said: ‘We’re fearing the worst now. It’s a terrible situation.’
Last night, police closed off a woodland three miles from where Miss Wellgreen was last seen.
A police van and three uniformed officers were blocking Scratchers Lane in Fawkham and searches were to be taking place nearby.
The area is next to the paddocks of the motor racing circuit Brands Hatch.
‘Sarah has missed child’s birthday’