Suspect in murder inquiry has 'left country'

Essex Police has been focusing its efforts on the Duke Street area of Chelmsford "and Barista specifically"

Police are trying to track down a man who has fled the country in connection with a missing man case that is being treated as a murder inquiry.

Cumali Turhan, 45, was last heard from when he was in The Globe, in Rainsford Road, Chelmsford, shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Ciprian Ilie, 44, of no fixed address, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court earlier, charged with assisting an offender (murder) and preventing the burial of a body.

Det Ch Insp Louise Metcalfe from Essex Police said a second man had now been identified as a suspect and officers "know he left the country soon after Cumali was last seen and we’re working with partners on progressing that".

"This is a complex investigation which we’re progressing at pace and we’re following a number of targeted lines of inquiry," she added.

Cumali Turhan has not been seen since the early hours of Tuesday and police are "trying to piece together the circumstances in which he went missing"

Police said they had information that Mr Turhan may have been in Barista on Duke Street after The Globe.

Specialist search and forensics teams were focusing their efforts at a number of locations, including around Duke Street and "Barista specifically", the force said.

Mr Ilie was remanded into custody and was due to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 23 December, police said.