Ely murder inquiry: Patio dug up at Deborah Steel pub

Deborah Steel has not been seen since 28 December 1997

The patio of a pub whose landlady is missing has been dug up by police who are now treating the case as murder.

Deborah Steel, 37, ran the Royal Standard in Ely, Cambridgeshire, and vanished on 28 December 1997. Her body has not been found.

The search had the full consent of the present landlord who is not connected with the investigation.

Police said further lines of enquiry were being followed in the search for the "truth about the disappearance".

A 73-year-old man is on bail until 29 April and two others, aged 70 and 50, have since had theirs cancelled.

Ms Steel's disappearance was recently reclassified from a long-term missing person to a murder inquiry by Cambridgeshire Police.

Her half-sister, Gini Secker, said reopening the case had given the family hope, but that it was "so very sad" that their father had died without knowing what had happened to Ms Steel.

Deborah Steel was landlady of the Royal Standard pub in Ely when she disappeared 17 years ago