Police finish murder hunt dig

Kevin Palmer was known as John Bon Jovi to his friends

Police searching for the body of a man who disappeared more than four years ago have finished searching a house and garden in Hampshire.

Kevin Palmer, from the North East of England, was 37 when he was last seen in the Hoe Road area of Bishops Waltham, on 12 March 1999.

Officers began digging up a garden in the street 11 days ago. It used to be the home of John Howett, who was jailed last year for drug smuggling.

A 51-year-old man from the Bishops Waltham area was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of murder and was later bailed for further questioning.

Mr Palmer, known as John Bon Jovi to his friends, was living in Spain selling timeshares when he returned to the UK for a visit and disappeared.

We are yet to identify the driver of the taxi, and this is absolutely key to the inquiry Detective Sergeant Jim Park

On 12 March 1999, he travelled to Hampshire and visited the Sir Joseph Paxton pub in Hunts Pond Road, Locks Heath, and then went to the Abshot Hotel and Country Club with at least four other people.

Mr Palmer left the club at about 0100 GMT and ended up in a taxi with two other men and a woman, police said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The taxi stopped on the Botley Road after passing through the village of Burridge towards Bishops Waltham.

Three men got out but only two got back in following an argument.

It was the last time Mr Palmer was seen alive.

The house belonged to convicted drug smuggler John Howett

Detectives say there is evidence Mr Palmer's body was later moved to Hoe Road.

His family said in a statement: "We have all hoped that he would return and always thought that only a very serious incident would have stopped him contacting us.

"We are all devastated to hear that he is dead and request that we are left alone at this time to grieve."

Officers have carried out house-to-house inquiries in the Bishops Waltham area and along the route the taxi is known to have travelled.

They also conducted inquiries at pubs and licensed premises in the Bishops Waltham, Botley, Park Gate and Warsash areas.

Detective Sergeant Jim Park said: "We are yet to identify the driver of the taxi, and this is absolutely key to the inquiry.

"We realise that the taxi driving profession is a transient one, and this man could have left the area or moved on to another profession by now.

"We have lists of literally hundreds of names of men who were driving taxis at the time to work through, and that is in the Fareham, Eastleigh and Southampton area alone.

"It is vital we hear from this man. We urge anyone who was driving a taxi in this area in March 1999 to have a really good think - did you have to stop to let a group of men out of your car because a fight broke out in the back?

"It would have been very memorable."

They also want to hear from anyone with any information about Kevin Palmer or details of a disturbance that night.