Sarah Benford: No lines of inquiry left in missing teen case

Sarah Benford, 14, went missing in 2000 after absconding from a Northampton care home

Police said they had "no further lines of enquiry" in their investigation into missing teenager Sarah Benford, who disappeared more than 20 years ago.

A murder investigation began after Sarah, 14, went missing from a Northampton care home in April 2000.

Officers failed to find her body after information led to a dig in Kettering - 15 miles away - in 2021.

Northamptonshire Police said despite the setback it would "never give up" in its quest to find answers.

Sarah was last seen by her mother in Kettering on 6 April 2000 - two days after absconding from her care home.

Nobody has ever been charged over her disappearance, despite a number of arrests and searches taking place in Kettering, London and Wales.

Northamptonshire Police searched the Valley Walk area of Kettering for two weeks

Officers spent two weeks excavating land in Kettering in 2021, but were unable to find her body.

It followed a search of a wooded area just outside the town five years previous.

What happened to Sarah?

4 April 2000 - Sarah absconds from Welford House children's home in Welford Road, Northampton, and goes to Kettering

6 April 2000 - Sarah visits her mother in Kettering town centre and there are also sightings of her at Almond Road, Highfield Road and Cherry Road

June 2003 - Three houses in Kettering and one in South Wales are searched

5 July 2003 - Man arrested but released without charge

22 September 2003 - Man arrested but released without charge

1 October 2003 - A house in Kettering is searched

23 October 2003 - Houses searched and further people from Nelson Street, Kettering, are arrested. Nobody is charged

26 October 2003 - A flat in Hampden Crescent, Kettering, is searched

27 November 2003 - A 41-year-old man is arrested but released without charge

December 2003 - Police search for several days in Furnace Lane, Finedon, seizing some exhibits

15 March 2016 - Detectives search for Sarah's body in woods at Warkton Bridge

15 November 2021 - A fresh search starts at Valley Walk in Kettering, but no body is found

Det Supt Joe Banfield, said: "The dig in the Valley Walk area of Kettering, which was conducted at the end of 2021, was in response to credible information that Sarah may have been buried at that location.

"Unfortunately she was not found.

"As a result of the media coverage and the policing activity carried out, a number of people came forward with further information. This information has been pursued but has sadly led to no further lines of enquiry that will help us locate Sarah."

Det Supt Joe Banfield said police would "never give up" looking for Sarah or her killer

He said: "Sarah went missing more than 22 years ago now, but we will never give up trying to find her body and, potentially, tracing her killer or killers."

Officers are appealing for anyone with information to come forward or contact charity Crimestoppers.