Day 3 - Patricia Finnie

This episode is about a missing person and so does not contain any descriptions of violence, but listener discretion is advised. South End on Sea is a seaside city located in the County of Essex in southeast England. It's long been known for its status as holiday destination, going back as far as Victorian times, when people used to travel for its seaside views and to see the world's longest pleasure peer.

Since that time, however, South End on Sea has changed and grown, with many of the older buildings being redeveloped, and it gained its city status in twenty twenty two. In twenty seventeen, Patricia Finney was both a mother and a grandmother living in South End on Sea. By all accounts. Patricia was a beloved member of her family who enjoyed

spending time with both them and her friends. On the eleventh of May twenty seventeen, Patricia had been out in the morning to see a friend who lived on Riviera Drive in the city. Riviera Drive is a mostly residential street made up of semi detached houses along one side. South End East train station is located on Riviera Drive, facing several of these houses. After visiting her friend, it was then known that Patricia had been sighted in the

Bellevue area of the city. This is not far at all from Riviera Drive where she'd been visiting her friend. In fact, the area is only around a seven minute walk. If that this was the last time that Patricia has officially been sighted after this point in May twenty seventeen, Patricia has not been located and she has not contacted her family. Her disappearance was very quickly noticed by her family and friends, and the police were involved with the

missing person investigation from early on. It was not Patricia's normal behavior to just leave without contacting anyone, and it wasn't usual for her. Therefore, police did start an investigation straight away. It was hope that as it was known where Patricia had been at around that time, that they would be able to trace her movements or at least

find someone who might have seen her. Police began putting out media appeals to try and locate Patricia, as well as carrying out house to house inquiries in the area where she was known to have visited that morning. As well as this, they trawled through hours and hours of CCTV footage in these areas to try and find her image amongst the many people who had been there that day. They also knew that Patricia could have got around using

public transport. There was the train station along the route that she may have taken, as well as many different bus routes in the city. It reported that police works with bus and rail companies to try and locate Patricia or any sign that she had used public transport that day. It seemed that all of these lines of inquiry did not track Patricia down, or if they did, narrow down any route she'd taken. These have not been published in

the media. A description of Patricia was created. She was described as white, five feet six inches tall, of a medium build, with straight auburn or gray hair. Her disappearance was very strange from the outset, given that there appeared to be no reason why Patricia would have just vanished, and as the days and weeks passed, it became even more suspicious to those that knew her. Where could she

have gone and why was she missing? As the time ticked by, it became all the more worrying for those that knew her, and police became increasingly eager to track her down. Despite extensive searches for her and appeals to the public for information, there was little found out about her whereabouts or her movements. Since the eleventh of May twenty seventeen, she had not been in contact with anyone

or turned up in any other location. Two years passed before there were any more developments in Patricia's missing person case. In twenty nineteen, it was reported that a sighting of her had come in. The witness stated that they had seen Patricia near the drawbridge in Lower Staft in Suffolk. Suffolk is a neighboring county of Essex, and the sighting had taken place at around one pm on Sunday, February third,

twenty nineteen. Why Patricia would have been in Lower Staft is unclear and if it was her, what had she been doing for the time since she had been missing. There has been no update on this sighting. As Patricia is still missing, this sighting must not have been corroborated. It did, however, push Patricia's case back into the headlines, which is always helpful. In twenty twenty three, a very

large update was issued in Patricia's case. It was reported that a man had been arrested on suspicion of her murder. This man was in his seventies at the time of the arrest, with police explaining that inquiries were still ongoing. This man was later released on bail and it does not appear as of December twenty twenty four that any charges have been brought against this suspect. It was reported that the time of the arrest, police began searching two

specific areas in relation to Patricia's disappearance. The area of Hockley Woods, around seven miles from Southend on Sea, was searched thoroughly by police. This search lasted several days. Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby said this was painstaking work and we recovered a number of items and work remains ongoing to ascertain if they are linked to Patricia's disappearance. Our investigation into what happened to Patricia is continuing and I still

need anyone who has information to contact us. A house in the area of Shubury was also searched by police in relation to the investigation. A house in Lynnark Close was attended by a forensic team. There was clearly reason to believe that this house had a connection to Patricia's disappearance. However, what this was has not been released. Essex Police have since been clear about what they believe has happened to Patricia.

Detective Superintendent Rob Kirby, head of Major Crime, said Patricia is a mother and a grandmother and her disappearances had a really big impact on her family. They understandably have questions about what's happened to her and we're committed to doing everything we can to provide them with answers. There is a team of dedicated detectives and staff working hard to establish what happened to Patricia and bring those responsible to justice. Patricia disappeared on the eleventh of May twenty

seventeen and has been seen or heard from since. Her disappearance has been reviewed by specialist detectives. As a result of that review, they have concluded that Patricia is no longer alive and her death is being treated as a homicide.

It's evident that this conclusion is due to the fact that Patricia has not been seen and has not contacted anyone since she disappeared, and clearly a result of their own investigation that they believe that something happened to Patricia on the eleventh of May when she left her friend's home on rivere A Drive. What that is and how the suspect who was arrested was connected to this is

currently unknown. From the reports that I have read, Essex Police seem to be dedicated to trying to get answers for Patricia's family and have continued to look into all lines of inquiry as well as follow up on any leads that come in. They have continually appealed for information and want anyone to come forward who feel that they

may know something about Trisha Finney's disappearance. If you do know anything at all, then please use that online portal which was set up using the link in the show notes, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on five five five one one one Patricia's family and friends deserve to know where she is, and any tiny bit of information may help. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Listening in a few days today four, where we'll cover another missing or unidentified person case.

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follow us on social media. As always, I'm Priest and this has been unseen