THE fiancé of Joanne Nelson, who was reported missing on Valentine’s Day, has been arrested on suspicion of her murder. Police arrested Paul Dyson, 30, at about 5pm yesterday, four days after the alarm was raised that the 22-year-old had vanished.
Miss Nelson was said to have left her home on Monday morning after exchanging Valentine’s cards with her fiancé, but she never turned up for work and has not used her mobile phone or bank account since.
The pair, who had been engaged for two and a half years, had been saving up for a wedding in Mexico. Mr Dyson told officers that he had given her a ring as a present on the morning that she disappeared.
He reported Miss Nelson missing at 9pm on Monday after returning home to find the house empty. He told police that the ring that he had given her was missing.
Yesterday morning officers said that they feared the worst after appeals for Miss Nelson’s whereabouts failed to yield information on where she was.
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Today police with dogs are to search the beauty spot by Humber Bridge where Mr Dyson said that the couple shared a picnic the day before she disappeared.
Detectives also want anyone who visited Brantingham Dale on the Hessle Foreshore that day to come forward.
Forensic teams will focus on the area near the church in the wooded village. Hull football fans will also be asked for information when they turn up for the afternoon game at the KC Stadium.
Officers believe that Mr Dyson, a wood machinist, was the only person to see Miss Nelson alive between 9.45pm on Saturday, when they had a Chinese meal with her mother, and the day that she vanished. He made an emotional appeal on television for his fiancé to get in touch. Miss Nelson’s parents, Jean and Charlie, also appealed for information.
Officers have searched the couple’s home in Hull, and have taken Miss Nelson’s white Renault Clio, which was found unlocked close to the couple’s home, for forensic tests.
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A police spokeswoman said today: “A 30-year-old Hull man has been arrested in connection with the inquiry. He has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody at a local police station.”
Detective Superintendent Ray Higgins said that it would be out of character for Miss Nelson to go away without telling family or friends. “There is nothing in her background that we have been able to find out that would suggest a convincing reason why she should choose to go missing,” Mr Higgins said. “I can never rule out the fact she could walk into a police station. There are cases where for good reason people go missing, but this is unusual.”