A 20-year-old murder probe today took a dramatic new twist when police searching for missing Janet Brown arrested two people over the disappearance of a Tyneside man, who vanished more than two decades ago.Officers are continuing to scour land land near Sparty Lea as they continue to search for Ms Brown, who has not been seen since June 2005 and is now feared dead.But in a bizarre development to the case police today arrested a 59-year-old Tynedale man and a 44-year-old Newcastle man on the suspicion of murder of Michael Straughan, 38, from Newcastle, who went missing in the city in June 1992. Mr Straughan was at the Farmers' Rest Pub in Haymarket, sometime between 7pm and 7.30pm on a busy Friday night before he vanished. Then between 8.30pm and 8.45pm he was seen outside the Percy Arms Pub where he was due to meet someone. He failed to return home that night and was reported missing the following day. DCII Nicola Musgrove, of Northumbria Police, who is leading the investigation, said: "Further information has come to light which has lead to the arrest of two men on suspicion of murder. As this is a live enquiry we are unable to go into more details but at this stage there is no obvious link between Michael Straughan and Janet Brown. "While we appreciate Mr Straughan's disappearance was more than 20 years ago, we would ask that anyone who has information about him or knew him to get in touch. "Our enquiries into the whereabouts of Janet Brown continue and searches of land are progressing well."Anyone with information about Janet Brown or Michael Straughan should contact Northumbria Police on 101 ext 69191 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.Read
