Woman's plea to partner's children

A GRIEVING woman whose partner was killed in a road accident has pleaded for his long lost children to come forward so she can lay him to rest.

Linda Sivill, 46, of Raydon Way, Great Cornard, said police have told her she can not bury her common law husband Tony Lloyd until they have made a thorough search for his four children from a previous relationship or find his official next of kin.

Miss Sivill who says she has never met her partner's children and knows nothing about them is now urging anybody who might know their whereabouts to come forward.

Mr Lloyd, 44, was killed last Thursday when his silver Daewoo car was involved in a collision with a white Ford Transit van on the Mersea Road, Langenhoe, near Colchester.

Miss Sivill said she is desperate to trace her partner's family who she thinks may live in the Newbury area of Berkshire.

She said: "I am still in shock and have not come to terms with Tony's death. I just don't know what to do because I have been told by the police that I am not his official next to kin, and they have to make a proper search for his children before I can bury him.

"The problem is I don't know anybody connected to his previous family and neither do his friends, it is just a complete mystery. I am desperate for them to come forward because I just want to lay him to rest."

The couple met two years ago when Mr Lloyd was travelling through Sudbury in his lorry and stopped to ask her directions.

At the time Mr Lloyd was still living in Newbury, but moved into Miss Sivill's Great Cornard home a year ago.

"We were so much in love, and very happy. Tony's was so kind and gentle and became a great step-father to my nine-year-old daughter Natalie, he took us on wonderful holidays and days out.

"The problem is I know very little about his past life because he didn't like speaking about it. All I know is he said his first wife died of cancer and he had four children, who he didn't see."

Miss Sivill said she knows Mr Lloyd was born in Cardiff and worked as a chef in the Army. He was later a chef at a hotel in Reading and said he got married when he lived in Newbury and had four children, two boys and two girls. The youngest the youngest was a son of 23, who is in the Army.

"I think there was something in Tony's past life that upset him so he didn't talk about it. It is like a black hole and I just want to find out more about his previous life and I would love to meet his children," added Miss Sivill.

The night before his accident Mr Lloyd is believed to have travelled to West Mersea to work a night shift as a lorry driver.

He rang Miss Sivill at 5am last Thursday to say he would be late home because he was going to Colchester to get her a surprise.

At around midday police officers arrived at her home to tell her he had been killed in the accident. Miss Sivill said she has no idea why Mr Lloyd was driving in his own car back towards Mersea at the time of the accident.

A passenger in Mr Lloyd's car and the driver of the Transit received minor injuries as a result of the accident.

A spokesman for Essex Police, which are investigating the crash, said: "We are still trying to trace the next of kin of the man who died in the crash. Until we do that we can not formally identify him."

A spokeswoman from the Greater Suffolk Coroner's Office explained that bodies are never released until every possible effort has been made to track next of kin.

She added: "To be someone's legal next of kin you have to be married to them. If the person is not married it goes down to blood relatives starting with parents, and then going down to brother or sisters or any adult children. If after all investigations we still can not find the next of kin we will then liase with partners and possible release the body to them if they are prepared to meet the costs."

Anyone who knows anything about Mr Lloyds family's whereabouts should telephone the EADT on 01787 882276.