Cops searching for missing mum who vanished nine months ago have started digging up her garden
Lorraine Ridout, 57, went missing from her home in January
COPS hunting for a mother who mysteriously vanished nine months ago have been digging up a suburban garden.
A huge manhunt was launched after Lorraine Ridout, 57, went missing from her home.
Lorraine's family launched a desperate campaign to trace her - even hiring psychics, who said her body was in the River Taff, in Cardiff, to help with the search.
Months on, with no sign of Lorraine, detectives have swooped on two Cardiff homes and begun digging up her garden.
Lorraine's three-bedroom semi-detached house in the Gabalfa suburb is being searched with sniffer dogs and forensic teams being drafted in to help.
Cops have also put up a blue tent in the garden and been seen carrying bags of rubble out.
The garden has been marked into grids with each bag of rubble given a grid reference.
A neighbour said: "It is a big operation - like something you see on the TV and not in an ordinary street. The police wouldn't be doing this unless it was very serious."
Another house three miles away in the Ely area of the city is also being investigated - it is believed to belong to another member of Lorraine's family.
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: "Specialist search teams, including forensic experts, have begun work at two properties.
"A focused and sustained search for Lorraine has been ongoing since her disappearance nearly nine-months-ago.
"She was last seen at around 7pm on January 31st when she left her house in Gabalfa to go and visit a friend in a nearby street."
Detective Chief Inspector Mark O'Shea added: "We have searched for many months for Lorraine and have followed up hundreds of lines of enquiry.
"At this stage her disappearance is still unexplained but I do have grave concerns for her. We are looking for clues which may help to explain what has happened to her.
"Lorraine is a much loved mother and grandmother and we are keen to establish what happened to her on the 31st of January for the sake of Lorraine's family and her many friends who have been, and continue to go through, a traumatic time. They need answers.
"I want to stress at this point, that Lorraine's family are working with South Wales Police and have been very co-operative throughout – they understand that we must leave no stone unturned in our efforts to find out what happened to her.
"No arrests have been made and work here will be completed diligently and expeditiously with minimal disruption to Lorraine's family and wider community.
"I still believe the answers to Lorraine's disappearance are somewhere within North Cardiff and would urge anyone who has any information to make contact with me."
In February two of Lorraine's daughters contacted psychics in their desperate search for their mum.
The psychics were convinced Lorraine had entered the River Taff and was stuck beneath the surface.
Daughter Christine, 33, said: "It is a massive bend and the psychic said it was a large bend.
"The psychic said my mum's stuck there. A second psychic has also confirmed that.
"We found the location and this is where we believe she is."
But an extensive search by police dive teams failed to find Lorraine in the river and the search has continued.
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