Missing woman's family lose hope

Police say they will continue the search

The family of a Fife woman who went missing on New Year's Day say they have accepted she will probably never return home.

Corinne Bell was last seen shortly after celebrating Hogmanay in Newport on Tay, the village where she lived.

Her relatives have now lost all hope and have arranged a special service to remember the life of the 20-year-old.

We would ask anyone attending the service to bring a candle to help mark the occasion in a very special way

David Bell
Corinne's father

Miss Bell's father David said on Wednesday: "In our hearts we believe that Corinne will not be coming back, which is why we want to hold this service to celebrate her life.

"The invitation is open to everyone who has known her and while we would ask that there be no flowers we would ask anyone attending to bring a candle to help mark the occasion in a very special way."

Fife Police say they will continue to search for Miss Bell, who was last seen on the Tay Road Bridge in Dundee at about 0130GMT on New Year's Day.

Mr Bell, his wife Barbara, Miss Bell's sister Leonie and brother Ruthven will be at the service at Newport Church at 1430 GMT on Saturday.

Corinne Bell went missing on New Year's Day

The family have also expressed their gratitide at efforts made so far by the police.

"Obviously we fully appreciate and accept the position of Fife Constabulary and we will always be grateful for their sterling and unstinting efforts to find Corinne," said Mr Bell.

A spokesman for Fife Police said he was still keen to hear from anyone who may have new information.

"Intensive searches of the area have so far failed to turn up any trace of Corinne but we are still asking for the public's help in solving this mystery.

Puzzling disappearance

"She had been in the company of friends earlier and had returned home briefly in the early hours. What happened subsequently remains a puzzle but hopefully the situation can still be resolved," said the spokesman.

Miss Bell has been described as 5ft 9in tall, of slim build with long straight hair and blue eyes.

She usually wears glasses and was last seen wearing a navy blue ski jacket, dark corduroy trousers, pink or lilac gloves and brown, calf length boots.

Stephen Heaney: Missing since Boxing Day

Meanwhile, searches for two missing men have also been continuing in Fife.

Stephen Heaney, 26, was last seen early on Boxing Day and police have renewed their appeal for information which could help trace him.

Search teams have been concentrating their efforts on Pittenweem Harbour and the surrounding area.

The police spokesman said: "His disappearance remains a mystery too but we hope that our ongoing door to door enquiries and the search of the area will yield more clues to where he might have gone."

A further appeal was issued by officers in Kirkcaldy for help in tracing 36-year-old Brian Thorburn, who was last seen on 15 December.