Helen Bailey was last seen walking her dog near her home on 11 April.

Prosecutors said on the same day CCTV at Royston recycling centre, near Tesco, captured Stewart dumping a "large white object", believed to be a duvet "used in the business of killing or moving the body of Helen Bailey".

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Stewart reported her missing four days later.  

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A month after Helen Bailey was last seen alive, Hertfordshire Police re-appealed to her to make contact and asked the public for further help in tracing her.

At a press conference her brother John Bailey appealed for her to come home.

Her partner Ian Stewart, who has today been convicted of her murder, never spoke in public but instead - on the day of the anniversary appeal - issued a statement asking her to come home.

Message to missing Helen Bailey from her partner Ian Stewart - 11 May 2016

Helen wherever you might be I hope you hear this message and listen carefully. 

We miss you and Boris so much. We are shattered in so many ways. 

Your Mum, Dad, John, Tracey, the lads and me plus so many others all need you. You bring so much to so many people in ways you don't even realise. 

You not only mended my heart five years ago but made it bigger, stronger and kinder. 

Together we learnt to live with our grief and move forward with our lives but never forgetting. Now it feels like my heart doesn't even exist. 

Our plans are nowhere near complete and without you there is no point. We promised each other 30 years, please keep that promise and come home. 

Whatever has happened, wherever you are I will come and get you and Boris and give you whatever you need. Love you more, Ian.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Helen Bailey's neighbour in Royston, Margaret Holson, said "words can't convey" what she feels about Ian Stewart - Ms Bailey's partner who has today been convicted of her murder.

"It’s unbelievable," she said.

"I look at her house and the garage where she was found every day and instead of seeing Helen that I used to I now just have these awful memories of what's happened to her.

"And what do you say? You can't comprehend it.

"I don't think he was very keen on the dog, but if he loved her he'd have to love her dog... now you wonder – did he love her really?" 

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

Murdered author Helen Bailey's neighbour in Royston said she sent her friend "lots of texts" in the three months between the time she went missing and when her body was found.

Some of the messages read:

"I am now very concerned for you, please, please get in touch with me to let me know you're OK."

"I'm there for you whenever you need me."

"Oh Helen where are you?"

Ms Holson said: "I didn't know where she was, I still find it very, very hard to talk about.

"I kept texting her, sent her emails, did everything I could to try and get in touch with her in case she was upset and hiding somewhere."

She said that she didn't think that was likely but "there was nothing else you could think". 

"Suddenly I had a missed Facetime call from her," she said.

"I knew [it] wasn't her because she would never have Facetimed me, but obviously the police thought it might be relevant and took all my details and took the phone away and downloaded everything but I was absolutely sure it wasn't from her.

"When she was found I just went to pieces.

"I absolutely just broke down."

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

A neighbour of Helen Bailey and Ian Stewart told the BBC she had "no reason to think they were any different from a normal couple".

Margaret Holson said: "They seemed to be fine, she was the friendly more outgoing one and he was quite quiet.

"[There was] absolutely nothing that suggested anything was wrong."

Ms Holson said when the author disappeared she "couldn't believe it".

"I couldn't believe that she'd put Ian through that if she'd gone off somewhere," she said.

"I couldn't believe she would put her family through that. I couldn't believe that she'd put me through that because we'd become so close, so I was really, really worried and couldn't understand it, but what else could you think?

"I felt that something was wrong but I didn't know what and I was really quite upset that she hadn't contacted me and let me know because she had on other occasions.

"The last thing I thought of is what actually happened."

Nicola Haseler
BBC Three Counties

This is the police custody photo of Ian Stewart taken after he was arrested for the murder of Helen Bailey. 

Police have confirmed today they are going to re-examine the death of Stewart's first wife, Diane, in 2010.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Nicola Haseler
BBC Three Counties

Det Ch Insp Jerome Kent was in charge of Helen Bailey's murder inquiry.

Speaking outside St Albans Crown Court this afternoon he said he was "pleased with the verdict" and it was "right and correct". 

Image source, Terry Harris / Paperpix

He added there are "no winners" and described the loss and devastation felt by Ms Bailey's family. 

He explained that Ian Stewart's own family were lied to and are "extremely upset by the verdict". 

It was a "challenging inquiry" as it was originally a missing person investigation, he said, adding that Ian Stewart's "lies and deceit" hampered them. 

I'm "proud of the investigation and the eventual conviction of Ian Stewart," he stated. 

Image source, South Beds News Agency

A neighbour of author Helen Bailey has said she "did everything to try to contact" the 51-year-old when she went missing.

Nick Coffer
BBC Three Counties Radio

In the same interview, Helen also told me about the moment she realised she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Stewart.

"We met before the first anniversary [of her husband's death] and there was a lot of heartache around that," she said.

“We'd been out on a proper date, dressing up, posh clothes, and it was a disaster – I ended up crying, saying I felt married and pushing Ian out of the taxi. I think he probably jumped actually.

"We got in touch again, we were walking the dog. He [Stewart] got stuck in some mud and he was just laughing, and I was laughing, and I just looked across at him and I thought, I don't want to lose this man from my life because of the convention or what other people might think."

Nick Coffer
BBC Three Counties Radio

In January 2016, Helen Bailey came to the BBC Three Counties Radio studios where I interviewed her about her first adult book, When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis.

It was based on her blog Planet Grief about how she dealt with the death of her first husband.

She was accompanied by Ian Stewart, who has now been convicted of her murder.

Chillingly she told me how even though she had met the man she believed would be her life partner, she always warned others about who they talked to from behind their screens. 

"There was nothing remotely racy about any of our conversations – there are people who'd had unfortunate experiences and I always caution people about talking to others online as some widows have got themselves into real problems," she said.

"[But] we talked about bacon sandwiches and my plumbing issues."

Ben Ando
BBC News

The evidence against Ian Stewart was just too overwhelming. It was he who drugged Helen Bailey with sleeping tablets and put her body in the cesspit along with Boris, her pet dog. 

It seems like money was his motive, as he stood to inherit the bulk of her multimillion-pound fortune on her death. 

Ms Bailey was worth more than £3.3m, St Albans Crown Court was told.

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

As well as inheriting the bulk of her estate, Ms Bailey's death left Mr Stewart as the only beneficiary of about £235,000 in pensions. He also could have received £1.28m in life insurance, intended to cover inheritance tax.

Mr Stewart had amended a monthly standing order from Ms Bailey's account into his from £600 to £4,000. 

The trial also heard Stewart twice tried to use power of attorney while she was missing in order to sell a flat she owned. 

Jodie Halford
BBC News

In her Planet Grief blog, Helen Bailey recalls the first time she met Ian Stewart. 

"I'm on a Facebook bereavement page, piddling around," she wrote in one post.

"A photo comes up. I am surprised to see it because I know the man in the photo.

"I keep wondering where we met, wracking my grieving brain.

"As it turned out, we had never met, but the man was Gorgeous Grey-Haired Widower, a man who from the moment we first met, I felt as if I had known for my entire life."

Image source, South Beds News Agency

Ms Bailey went on to date GGHW, as she referred to him in her blog, and they later bought a house in Royston, Hertfordshire, moving in together along with his two sons.

They were planning to marry and were arranging a wedding at nearby Brocket Hall.

But in April last year, she was reported missing... earlier today, Stewart was convicted of her murder.

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

The family of Helen Bailey say there "can be no celebration" after the conviction of her fiancé for murder, but even so, they say their thoughts are "very much with [Stewart's] family".

Ian Stewart, 56, was found guilty of her murder at St Albans Crown Court.

In a statement, Ms Bailey's family said: "Despite this victory for justice there can be no celebration.

"Our families have been devastated and nothing can ever bring Helen back to us, or truly right this wrong.

"A long shadow of loss has been cast over the lives of so many who will always remember Helen with enduring love and affection."

Image source, South Beds News Agency

The family said they "knew Helen would wish, like us, for justice to be done" and on that note thanked the police and Crown Prosecution Service for "unswerving professionalism and support".

"We also wish to thank the many individuals for their support, some of whom have been grieving for their own personal loss - as their acts of kindness have been invaluable to us," a statement said.

"At her memorial service, we asked attendees to write down what Helen's life had inspired them towards.

"From over 160 affirmative responses, one person wrote: 'To help people when they needed a friend'.

"With these words in mind, we now embark on rebuilding our lives and we respectfully request that we be allowed to do so in peace."

The trial of Ian Stewart was held over six weeks at St Albans Crown Court. 

During the trial the jurors visited the couple's home in Royston, Hertfordshire, to see where Ian Stewart hid her body in a cesspit under the garage.

Image source, Hertfordshire police

Image source, Hertfordshire Police

Ian Stewart's main line of defence was that two men named Nick and Jo had snatched her and he was warned not to go to the police.

They also presented a witness who said he saw Helen near her holiday home in Kent weeks after she was reported missing, but later admitted the sightings could have been weeks earlier.

Jodie Halford
BBC News

As we recently mentioned, police say they will look again at the death of Ian Stewart's wife Diane in 2010 following his conviction for the murder of fiancée Helen Bailey.

Diane had an epileptic fit in the garden of their home in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, an inquest found.

Police say there is currently "no indication" of anything suspicious, but say the murder trial verdict opens up further suspicion.

"It's only right that I consider what might have happened in Ian Stewart's past to see whether there's anything I need to get involved in, whether there's any fresh evidence that might have come out from this trial," said Det Ch Insp Jerome Kent from the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Major Crime Unit.

"That's something we will be doing in hand with the Cambridgeshire coroner."

Following the conviction of Ian Stewart today, Charles White, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "Ian Stewart murdered Helen Bailey and then conducted a cynical, deceitful and calculated charade as he watched the police conduct a futile missing person investigation. 

"The prosecution presented a case to the jury which clearly showed how Stewart was linked to Helen's disappearance through mobile phone, computer and CCTV evidence.

"Our thoughts are with Helen's family and friends, who have been devastated by her death. I hope today's conviction reassures them that justice has been done." 

Katy Lewis
BBC Local Live

• Helen Bailey and Ian Stewart had been in a relationship for four years and were planning their wedding
• May 2015: Power of attorney registered giving control of affairs to Stewart and and Ms Bailey's brother John Bailey 
• 11 April 2016: Helen Bailey sent her last email at 10:51
• 11 April 2016: By early afternoon - between 10:51 and 14:30 - Stewart had killed her by suffocation while sedated
• 11 April 2016 at 14:30: Ms Bailey's bank account was accessed from Stewart's computer and a standing order was amended to his advantage from £600 to £4,000 and transferred from her account to his
• 11 April 2016: Stewart visited Royston recycling centre in the afternoon and was seen to deposit a large white object, thought to be a duvet. He went back a few days later to make sure it had gone
• 11 April 2016: In the evening, Stewart attended his son's bowls match and stopped for a Chinese takeaway on the way home
• 12 April 2016: Stewart tells his two sons Ms Bailey was missing  
• 15 April 2016 at 15.37: Stewart reports Helen Bailey missing and said he last saw her at 14:45 on 11 April. He tells police she left a note saying she "needs space and time alone" but cannot produce the note
• 16 April 2016: Stewart went to Broadstairs, where Ms Bailey had a cottage. Her phone came in range of wifi and connected to the network
• April 2016: Stewart sent a series of emails to Helen Bailey's email account saying he loves and misses her, including one on the 21 April sent from an Arsenal football match 
• Stewart supported a national campaign to find Ms Bailey but did not appeal in public
• 22 May 2016: Stewart attended dog walk at Royston heath organised by Ms Bailey's friends to raise awareness of her disappearance
• June 2016: Stewart went on holiday
• 11 July 2016: Stewart arrested, questioned and bailed
• 15 July 2016: Helen Bailey's body found in a cesspit at her Royston home
• 16 July 2016: Stewart charged with her murder
• 18 July 2016: A post-morten examination concluded she did not die from natural causes or disease but cause of death could not be determined

An examination of the events surrounding the murder of author Helen Bailey.

Jodie Halford
BBC News

Helen Bailey's life changed completely following the death of her husband in 2011.

Six years ago, Ms Bailey was enjoying success as a children's author, having written more than 20 books, including the popular Electra Brown series.

A lover of cooking, Arsenal FC and her dachshund Boris, the Northumberland-born writer lived with her husband John Sinfield (pictured together) in Highgate, north London. The pair had been together for 22 years, and married for 15.

Image source, South Beds News Agency

In February 2011, during a holiday to Barbados, her world was turned upside down when Mr Sinfield got caught in a rip current in the sea and drowned.

Ms Bailey was, in her own words, "a wife at breakfast, but a widow by lunch".   

The aftermath saw her start a blog, Planet Grief, in which she recounted moments from her life as a widow. 

She describes releasing memorial balloons on Hampstead Heath; buying a single Scotch egg in the deli she used to frequent with her husband; coping with Christmas and the loss of the festive traditions she used to enjoy as a couple.

In 2015, her first book for adults was published, based on the blog and called When Bad Things Happen in Good Bikinis.

It was through the blog that she met the man she thought would become her life partner - Ian Stewart - but he would instead prove to be her killer.

Mike Cartwright
BBC Look East

Ian Stewart showed no emotion while the verdicts were read out, he only shook his head. 

He'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out how long he'll be in prison for.

The judge is due to sentence him at 10:00 on Thursday. 

Image source, Helen Tipper