A DISTRAUGHT mother has begged to be allowed to lay her missing daughter to rest - three years after she disappeared.Sandra Gant went missing on November 15, 2003, from Clacton and police believe she was murdered.

By Annie Davidson

A DISTRAUGHT mother has begged to be allowed to lay her missing daughter to rest - three years after she disappeared.

Sandra Gant went missing on November 15, 2003, from Clacton and police believe she was murdered. However, her body has never been found.

Yesterday, her mother Rita Gant said she believed Sandra was dead but the family was desperate to know for certain what had happened to her.

Rita, a 74-year-old widow, said she wondered about her daughter's whereabouts every day and pleaded for anyone with information to come forward.

“It is terrible. It is the not knowing which is the worst thing and I say that to everyone,” she said.

“My husband died four months ago of cancer and I know that he is gone, I know that we buried him.

“But with Sandra we just don't know. Every single day I think 'what happened to her?'

“There must be someone around here that knows. We just need to know.”

Sandra was last seen at a flat in Hayes Road, Clacton, late on the evening of November 15, 2003.

Her three daughters, Carrie, Lauren and Michaela Cheasley, raised the alarm after she failed to meet them as arranged three days later.

They went to her home in Wellesley Road, Clacton, and discovered she had not been seen for several days.

Police initially treated the 48-year-old's disappearance as a missing person inquiry but later launched a murder investigation.

Arrests have been made by police but no-one has ever been charged in connection with Sandra's disappearance.

Rita, of Church Road, Clacton, said she looked for her daughter in crowds whenever she went out but deep down had no hope that Sandra was still alive.

She said she just wanted to know what had happened to her and lay her to rest.

“She loved her children. She would never have left them,” said Rita. “The family just want some answers for our own sake.”

Rita said when Sandra first went missing she asked police to search the marshes between Holland-on-Sea and Great Holland but was told resources did not stretch to that.

“It would have to be someone walking their dog who would find the body or whatever,” she said.

Detective Inspector Neil Luckett, of the Essex Police Major Investigation Team, said yesterday: “This is still an open investigation and anyone who has any new information is asked to come forward and give it, no matter how trivial.

“The search parameters were set by specialist search advisors and reviewed by staff from the National Crime Faculty.

“All areas which they recommended should be searched were searched. We would welcome any new information to suggest where Sandra might be.”

Anyone with information should contact the Essex Police Major Investigation Team on 01206 762122 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

annie.davidson@eadt.co.uk