Police still searching for missing 88-year-old

Oct 24 2009 by Neil McKay, The Journal

JENNY Jones should have been celebrating her 67th wedding anniversary today.

Instead the 85-year-old is waiting by the telephone desperately waiting for news of her husband Billy, who went missing a week ago.

Despite days of intensive searching by police and search and rescue teams around the Ferryhill area of County Durham, no trace has been found of the 88-year-old retired miner since he left his home in Derwent Street at 4pm last Friday.

Police said yesterday they intended to continue the search during the weekend.

This week Mr Jones’ son and daughter, Glynn Jones and Jan Johnson made an impassioned plea for help in finding their father.

Mrs Johnson, 47, said: “It is just like he has disappeared. I cannot think where he can be. He may have taken a wrong turning and just kept on walking. He didn’t have a very good sense of direction even in his younger days.”

Mr Jones, who walks with a stick, regularly went for walks but he would usually be out of the house for no more than an hour.

His son said he was “not very hopeful” that his father would be found alive after he has been missing for so long, but he added: “We just want him found.”

Mrs Johnson added: “He was always happy. So long as his family were OK he was happy. He was devoted to his four grandchildren.

“It is breaking my heart to think of him curled up somewhere in the cold.” Mr Jones is described as 5ft 6ins tall, has grey hair and usually walks with a stick. On Friday afternoon he was wearing a grey woolly hat, a beige coloured coat and brown cord trousers.

His family yesterday issued a new, more recent picture in the hope it will jog the memory of anyone who might have seen Mr Jones since last Friday afternoon.

Anyone who can help should ring the police on 0345 606-0365 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.