A murder investigation has been launched after bodies were found at Kent home of missing former Eastenders actress Sian Blake, who has links to Colchester.
Detectives are searching for the boyfriend of the actress after three bodies were found by police looking for the performer and her two children.
Ms Blake, 43, who played Frankie Pierre in the hit soap, vanished with her sons Zachary, eight, and Amon, four, in east London on December 13.
Three days later police interviewed her partner and the children’s father Arthur Simpson-Kent, 48, at the family home, before he also disappeared.
Officers made the grim discovery today.
Post-mortem examinations will be carried out tomorrow on the bodies, which have yet to be formally identified.
Detective Superintendent Paul Monk from the Metropolitan Police said: “Sadly today we found three bodies in the back garden of their home address and as such, this is now a murder investigation.
“Formal identification has yet to take place, it’s too early to speculate but of course the family has been told and this is obviously a very difficult time for them.
“Our efforts are continuing to find Arthur Simpson-Kent. Our appeal is to anyone who may know his current whereabouts or can assist us in finding him - we do need to speak to him as a matter of urgency.”
Ms Blake had motor neurone disease – a fatal, rapidly progressing disease that affects the brain and spinal cord – and was reportedly looking “very frail” before she vanished.
She and her children were last seen in Waltham Forest, east London, on December 13, and her silver-beige Renault Scenic was found in Bethnal Green on January 3, but it is not known who parked it there.
Officers moved several bags of evidence from the home and it will remain under police guard overnight until searches resume.
Previously an unknown actress, Ms Blake’s big break came when she was introduced as soul singer Frankie in EastEnders in June 1996 by series producer Jane Harris.
Her storylines saw her character frequently pursuing attached men and succeeding in breaking up the marriage of Alan and Carol Jackson, played by Howard Antony and Lindsey Coulson.
According to IMDB, Ms Blake was on the show for 56 episodes, reportedly quitting in 1997 because of hostility from viewers towards her manipulative character.
Her contemporaries on the BBC soap included Patsy Palmer and Dean Gaffney – who played Alan’s stepchildren Bianca and Robbie – as well as Michael French (David Wicks) and Sylvester Williams (Mick McFarlane).
Ms Blake also appeared in episodes of The Bill, Casualty, Doctors and Skins, and was the voice of Yugiri in 2015 video game Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward.
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