Joanne police find concealed body

Joanne Nelson was reported missing more than one month ago

Police searching for missing Hull woman Joanne Nelson have found a body.

A Humberside Police spokeswoman confirmed officers found a concealed body in woodland in North Yorkshire.

A post mortem examination will take place on Friday, while officers make a detailed search of the area near Brandsby where the discovery was made.

Miss Nelson, 22, was reported missing on 14 February by her fiancé, Paul Dyson, 30, who has been charged with her murder.

The spokeswoman said it could be some time before the body is formally identified.

The discovery was made at 1600 GMT on Thursday by Det Supt Ray Higgins and Det Con Phil Gadd.

Tubular gate

They were searching a wooded area 1.5 km away from Brandsby, which is to the west of Malton.

Lisa Fleming of Humberside Police said the detectives had been doing interviews about the forthcoming weekend searches when they spotted a gate nearby.

"The gate fitted the description of the one police had been looking for.

"They looked further and that is when they came across the concealed body," she said.

Landowners and walkers had been asked to keep an eye out for tubular gates and signs of land been disturbed nearby.

The area has been sealed off.

Sixth weekend

The spokeswoman confirmed Miss Nelson's parents have been informed.

The search concentrated on land in East and North Yorkshire

The search for Miss Nelson's body was about to enter its sixth weekend when the discovery was made.

More than 60 police officers and specials have been joined by army volunteers, underwater divers and specialised search teams such as International Rescue helping them to scour land across East and North Yorkshire.

Heavy snow hampered early efforts and the huge search was eventually scaled down into smaller teams searching specific areas.

Landowners were urged to check their land as police believed her body had been left in the open near to a wooded area and covered with branches from a pine or similar tree.

Earlier this week, staff from the Forestry Commission joined the search as police announced the body could be in a place where western hemlock and birch trees grew together.

Miss Nelson lived with Mr Dyson at their home in Hotham Road North, Hull.

She failed to turn up to work at the local jobcentre on Valentine's Day.