Nicola Payne: Vigil held to mark 30th anniversary of Coventry mum's disappearance

The vigil was held by family and friends on Monday evening close to where the teenager went missing

A vigil has been held to remember a young mother on the 30th anniversary of her disappearance.

Nicola Payne, then 18, went missing close to her parents' house in Coventry on 14 December 1991.

Despite years of investigation and searches by a specialist team, Ms Payne's body has never been found.

Her relatives say they have resigned themselves to the fact she is no longer alive, but that they are desperate to know what happened.

"We're not chasing to point blame, we're not chasing to put people in prison - all we want is my sister home so my mum and dad can bury her and have a place to go and grieve," said Nicola's brother, Nigel Payne.

Nicola Payne's son Owen was seven months old when she disappeared

Ms Payne, who had a seven-month-old son, went missing as she walked from her boyfriend's address to her parents' house in December 1991.

The reward for any information leading to finding Ms Payne was raised to £100,000 by an anonymous donor in January 2018.

Her family had also hired a private forensic search team to examine land around Coombe Country Park, near Coventry in the same month, but found nothing.

A stretch of canal was also searched in February 2020 after police received "new information".

Nigel Payne made a fresh appeal for information about his sister's disappearance

• Canal search in hunt for missing mum

• Reward of £100k for 1991 missing mum

• Timeline: Nicola Payne disappearance

Issuing a fresh plea for information to mark the anniversary, her father said the family were still determined to bring her home.

"If there are any remains bring them back home so I know where she is [and] put her to rest," said John Payne.

"It's just the not knowing."

A £100,000 reward has been offered for information on the 1991 disappearance

Nicola's brother added: "It's ruined our family, totally, absolutely crucified it. Split it into bits.

"All I want now for my parents is to get Nicola back, lay her to rest, and that is it."

The vigil was held by family and friends on Monday evening close to where the teenager went missing.

"Let's light the path for Nicola that should have led her home to safety," said a message posted on the family's Facebook page.

Two men were cleared of Ms Payne's murder in 2015.