A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of missing mother of five Sarah Wellgreen.
Ben Lacomba of Bazes Shaw, New Ash Green, Kent appeared before Medway magistrates and was remanded to appear at Maidstone Crown Court later. The search for Sarah is still on going.
Yesterday, police investigating the case re-arrested Sarah’s ex-partner Ben Lacomba on suspicion of murder.
KENT POLICE
Sarah Wellgreen was last seen on October 9th near her home in New Ash Green, Kent. She was reported missing two days later. The family celebrated her birthday in her absence on December 14th. Sarah’s son Lewis Burdett has said the family are living a “never-ending nightmare”. Her disappearance is being treated as a possible murder after it was very out of character for her to disappear; the only item missing is her black iPhone 4. About 2,000 hours of CCTV footage has been received by police and more than 1,300 volunteers have joined searches for her.
Sarah Wellgreen was last seen near her home in New Ash Green, Kent, on the 9th of October 2018. The 46-year-old was reported missing two days later. Kent police are treating her disappearance as suspicious. Sarah Wellgreen’s car was left at home and there has been no transactions on her credit or debit card, the only item missing is her phone.
Sarah was last seen at her home that she shared with her ex-partner, father of her three youngest children. She made a phone call at 9.24pm and said she was going to have an early night, her phone was last connected to the mast at Ash Green that night.
Sarah went missing on the morning of the 10th but a friend alerted her family on the 11th of October when she failed to respond to texts. Her ex-partner Ben Lacomba, 38, then call the police to report her missing. A day later Sarah’s son Lewis Burdett made a Facebook plea to inform people that his mum has gone missing.
On the 16th of November, Sarah’s ex-partner was arrested and held for 3 days before being bailed until November 16th.
On the 20th of November, the ‘Search for Sarah Wellgreen’ started. The community and volunteers came together to search all roads and path tracks out of the Ash Green area in case she had fallen and unable to get back up. In four days a 2-mile radius was covered, including woodland. Kent police searched her house and other areas of concern; they assisted in directing all the search teams.
On the 24th of October, the disappearance became a potential murder investigation due to the time missing. Community searches continued into villages, open spaces and woodlands within a 5-mile radius of Sarah’s house. Volunteer numbers were 350.
On the 26th of October, members of the community that had licenced drones were able to join the search. The Facebook page was launched to help spread the word. CCTV and Dash Cams were asked to be viewed in case anyone had sighting of Sarah. The number of volunteers increased to 1300 people.
On the 2nd of November, Sarah’s home was searched of the second time and searched by Kent police search team and search dogs. The river Darent was searched by police marine team and roads nearby were cornered off.
On the 4th of November, CCTV was released to the press of a hooded man by the river in Greenhithe, police are believed to be examining this.
On the 16th of November, Sarah’s ex-partner was re-bailed until the 16th of January 2019.
On the 5th of December, Search is still being carried out and appeals are being made.
Additional points that are said on the Facebook page to help answer questions:
- Sarah was well, and the disappearance is totally out of character.
- It is not known what she was last wearing.
- Sarah’s car was left at home
- Sarah’s iPhone is still missing and cannot be traced.
- No present or past partner has helped in searches
- Sarah’s passport is not missing
Detectives have studied more than 2,000 hours of CCTV footage and searched her home, but they are not any closer to finding her. The CCTV footage was turned off outside her house on the night she went missing therefore her last known movements are unknown.
Her son, Lewis, said volunteer search parties had provided comfort and asked people to “please keep looking”. Her disappearance is completely out of character.
Lewis Burdett has a message of thanks to everyone who is helping in the search for his mother, he says: ‘Myself, and my family, would like to thank the residents of New Ash Green, and the surrounding villages and towns, who have all kindly given their time and to go out in all weather conditions to help look for our mum.
‘The last month has been a never ending nightmare and so distressing for our family. We would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and for respecting our privacy at this difficult time and ask that it continues.
‘If there is any comfort to be found during this time, it has been through seeing the support the community has given in the search to find our mum. We would like to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who has helped with the searches, reposting social media appeals, putting up posters and sending in CCTV and dashcam footage to the police.
‘We would especially like to thank the police for their continued work and also the six volunteer coordinators who have given-up so much of their time to help co-ordinate the searches and set-up the Search for Sarah Wellgreen Facebook page.
‘Thank you, once again, to everyone from the local community who has helped and is continuing to help find our mum. Please, please keep looking and re-posting the social media appeals. Myself, and my family, really do appreciate everything that you are doing.’
Kent Police are seeking to identify anybody who was driving or walking in the New Ash Green area between 8pm on 9th of October and 7am on 10th of October 2018
Sarah is described as being white, around 5ft 7ins tall, of medium build, with green eyes and straight brown shoulder-length hair.
Anyone who has not been in contact with the police who was outside in the New Ash Green area on the night Sarah went missing, or has any information that may help the investigation, is asked to call Kent Police on 0207 158 0011, Freephone 0800 056 0154 quoting 11-0423.
Alternatively you can contact the independent charity ‘Crimestoppers in Kent’ anonymously on 0800 555 111.
